Ryan's Dive into '95 - Part Sixteen (4/16 - 4/22)
UWFi makes its mainline Dive debut as it starts to circle the drain, Rey and Juvi go at it, Lord Steven Regal vies for the IWGP title, heated juniors action, and more!
If you haven’t read it already, please check out my introductory article that explains what this series is all about. As a reminder, footage is sourced from the Goodhelmet 1995 Yearbook, unless otherwise stated.
How ya now?
After a rather insane last couple of weeks, this week will feel a bit more normal and the article won’t be as stupidly long. That doesn’t meant we won’t have quality content, though. We’ll have championship action from NJPW, AAA, UWFi, and other stuff!
Well…
APRIL 16th
NJPW Battle Rush 1995, Night Three: GRAND CROSS 2 - We start things off HOT with a couple of title matches from The Lion.
UWF World Welterweight and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Shinjiro Otani (c) vs. Koji Kanemoto (c) - Otani is defending his UWF Welterweight belt while Kanemoto puts his IWGP Junior Heavyweight title on the line in this unification match. As you may recall from last week, these guys don't exactly like each other. Kanemoto gets RIGHT UP IN Otani's business during the ring intros!
They trade headlocks and shoulderblocks to start, then Otani dropkicks the knee and starts vigorously working it over. Koji escapes with punchings, but Otani slaps the taste out of his mouth when they go for a knucklelock, then lands some kicks. Back to the leg as Otani grabs a legbar, but Kanemoto escapes with a bootrake on the face. Koji works Otani over, then starts slapping the shit out of him! Otani regains the advantage by kicking Kanemoto's leg out from under his, uh, leg, then locks in the figure four.
Kanemoto struggles but manages to get to the ropes. Otani goes for a half-crab, but Kanemoto spinkicks out of it. Otani regains the advantage and lands a flipping senton for two. Boston crab (they're not even in Massachusetts, smh) is escaped, and Kanemoto grabs a torture crab hold of his own. Otani UNLOADS the slaps and goes back to torturing Kanemoto's leg. Otani moves to a chinlock, but Kanemoto gets a vicious backdrop to escape. Corner dropkick from Kanemoto, then come some NASTY kicks! Otani’s selling of these is incredible, trying to power through them but clearly getting his shit rocked.
Another kick is countered into a calf hold, but Kanemoto gets the ropes. Rear choke from Otani, but Koji again grabs the ropes. Otani goes for his springboard missile dropkick, but Kanemoto intercepts with his own dropkick, then follows with a pescado! Back in, Otani is hung in the Tree of Joey Lawrence and is subject to much kicking. Otani manages a glancing blow with a spinkick and lands his awesome springboard dropkick, then follows with his also-awesome springboard plancha. German suplex from Otani gets two! Top rope Frankensteiner gets two! The crowd is really heating up now. Dragon suplex attempt, but Koji escapes and NAILS a spinkick to Otani's cranium.
Release German from Kanemoto, then a moonsault…but Kanemoto doesn't want the pin! Rolling senton and tiger suplex…but Otani kicks out! Koji argues the count with the ref, allowing Otani to nail a dropkick and a dragon suplex…but Kanemoto kicks out! SLAP FIGHT (the good kind, not the Dana White shit that tanks TBS’ ratings after Dynamite) and both guys are down! Dueling dropkicks! Kanemoto dodges a kick and lands HIS own dragon suplex for the three and the UWA title! Post-match, they slap each other AGAIN, then they shake hands. Fucking awesome.
****1/4 - Yeah, this was a delightfully surly juniors match. These two portrayed well the disdain they had for each other with vicious strikes (those SLAPS, man). Hell, their grappling and matwork also had that extra intensity to it. Otani was terrific here, laser-focused on Kanemoto's leg, nailing some great high-flying moves, and providing some excellent selling. Kanemoto also did his part here to create a compelling contest. I love that he pinned Otani with his own finisher, just for that added bit of “fuck you”.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Shinya Hashimoto (c) vs. Lord Steven Regal - Well, this will certainly be a different Regal than the last few weeks of Blue Bloods tomfoolery.
The Code of Honor is upheld before the bell. Hash comes in quick with an attempted low dropkick, but Regal evades. Regal has early control because of his chain-wrestling expertise, and the grappling is especially vicious. Hash is bleeding from the nose already! Busting someone’s nose from MATWORK is just cold.
They battle over a knucklelock, which Billy Reegs converts into a hammerlock. Hash escapes and goes to work over the leg, but Regal hits some STURDY palmstrikes to the face to escape. Hashimoto lays in some kicks, and Regal returns fire with VIOLENT European uppercuts, palmstrikes, and forearms. Regal grabs a cravat, which he turns into an armbar, then into a NASTY crossface where he just digs his forearm across Hash's nose! Jesus! Hash understandably bails to regain whatever faculties that weren’t smashed out of his face by Regal. Back in, Regal fakes Hash out and absolutely rocks him with uppercuts and forearms.
Regal applies another crossface and rains down some stiff blows on Hashimoto's face. Regal continues the beatings until Hash COMES ALIVE by blocking a blow and delivering some PAYBACK with a palm strike and some brutal kicks! They then trade forearms to the face, and it's a standoff! They fight over a hammerlock, but Regal grabs the ropes to break. We get another knucklelock battle with Hash getting the better of it. Regal traps the leg and goes to a facelock and beats on Hash with palmstrikes, but Hash rallies back with a massive enzuigiri, knocking Regal stiff!
Hash BRINGS THE HEAT with hard kicks aplenty, and a stiff shoulderblock sends Regal reeling. Regal comes back in, and they start beating the piss out of each other. Regal counters a DDT with a wristlock/forearm combo. Another forearm, and Regal goes for repeated pin attempts to try to sap Hash's energy. Hash counters a double underhook suplex and hits another enzuigiri! Hash SWEEPS THE LEG JOHNNY and NAILS some big kicks for a close two! Lord Steven gets the Regal Stretch, but Hashimoto makes the ropes! Hash attempts the DDT again, but Regal thwarts it by tossing him over his head. More palmstrikes and some vicious stomps to the face get two. Hash runs over Regal with a forearm smash and uses an arm wringer as a way to transition into a successful DDT! Hash locks in a jujigatame and Regal has to tap! Hash retains!
****1/4 - God DAMN, what a sick, violent fight this was. Both guys beat the living shit out of each other with brutal strikes and stiff matwork. I can’t imagine a lot of people pegged Regal to take the gold here, but he sure as shit made Hashimoto earn that W. I liked the build to the DDT as well, as Regal had it scouted and countered it a few times, but Hashimoto used some clever redirection to successfully hit it. Once he hit it, the match was pretty much done. If you're into a solid, hard-hitting potatofest, this is your huckleberry.
Post-match, Code of Honor is upheld, and they trade a couple more blows for fun.
APRIL 17th
WWF Monday Night RAW - After a RAW-less week, we're back with a very important message from the World Wrestling Federation. If you drink and drive, you'll eventually meet The Undertaker.
I mean, it's probably cheaper than buying a VIP ticket to his One (dead)Man Show, but we here at Ryan’s Reviews still don't recommend driving under the influence.
It's kinda funny that after nearly four months into the year, the first WWF-produced Undertaker content we look at is a PSA. This was NOT a banner year for Mean Mark to say the least.
APRIL 20th
UWFi Pro Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship Match - Yes, that’s the name of the show from what I can find. We get our first UWFi singles match, and it's a biggun.
Pro Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship - Super Vader (c) vs. Nobuhiko Takada - Even though this is a pretty significant title match, it’s taking place after the company took a sizeable hit to their credibility after UWFi's Yoji Anjo was completely rinsed by Rickson Gracie after making a grandstand challenge. This, and Takada's lack of response to the situation, did irreparable damage to UWFi's reputation, making a promotion that built itself upon “authentic” badassery look WEAK in the eyes of the public. As a result, a match that sold out a baseball stadium two years prior could barely put asses in 75% of a 12,000 seat arena (8,100 attended the show). You can pretty much pinpoint the start of UWFi’s downturn here.
Takada offers a handshake, but Vader coldly slaps the shit out of him! The bell rings and Takada kicks the ever-loving turd out of Vader, sending him out of the ring! Vader collects his marbles and heads back in, where he clobbers Takada in the corner and hits a brutal chokeslam. Vader continues mauling Takada like a bear, then works a side-mount for a bit, dropping some stiff blows in the process.
The ref chastises Vader after a knee to the head while they were grounded, and both guys are back up. Vader knocks Takada down with some clubberin’, but Takada beats the count. Takada goes back to the kicks, going after Vader's leg, then rocking him with a VICIOUS kick to the face. Vader gets back up, and Takada continues with the kicks to the leg, chopping down the figurative tree. Vader regains the advantage by beat the shit out of Takada in the corner, then clobbering him while he's down! Takada comes back with more kickings to the legs and face, then goes for a jujigatame, which Vader escapes.
Back up, Takada keeps going back to Old Faithful, kicking Vader into gelatin. They grapple on the mat for a bit with Takada managing to get a jujigatame, only for Vader to be too close to the ropes. Takada goes for more kicks to wear down the big fella, then attempts a judo throw, but Vader clubs him in the head to put a stop to THAT notion. Big clothesline, then Vader goes for a powerbomb! However, Takada escapes, landing on his feet during the attempt, but falls down anyway? That was… weird. Vader continues to club Takada and hits the powerbomb this time! Takada gets up well before the ten count, then Vader just runs his ass over like he was Rikishi running over Steve Austin at the behest of Triple H.
Vader gets the Fujiwara armbar, then a dragon sleeper. They get back up, and Takada lands a kick to Vader's face and tries pelting him with more kicks, but one Vader forearm ends that little rally. Vader corners Takada, who lands a couple of knees and a series of vicious kicks to knock down the big man! Vader can't beat the count! Takada wins the title by KO! Takada celebrates with Lou Thesz after the match while Vader destroys shit around ringside.
***3/4 - This was some fun shoot-style with a great David vs. Goliath dynamic. Vader was an absolute monster here, asserting dominance over Takada, while Takada had to use his wits to try to get the win. He found his openings when he went for the leg kicks, then kept going back to them whenever he was in trouble until he was able to eventually fell the beast. There was some weird stuff here and there, and the selling (Takada recovering quickly from the powerbomb) was suspect at times, so this isn't an all-time effort or anything, but it's still a compelling watch.
Now that Vader is no longer the top titleholder in UWFi, he's FINALLY free to job to Hulk Hogan in WCW.
APRIL 21st
AAA Sin Limite - We finally get back to Mexico as we conclude our all-title match slate this week. This should be a change of pace from the crud-out-of-beatings that took place in the last three matches.
WWA World Lightweight Title: Juventud Guerrera (c) vs. Rey Misterio Jr - Juvi's got Psicosis as his second at ringside while Rey has Octagon. Now THAT would be an EPIC tag match.
PRIMERA CAIDA: We start FAST with Juvi hitting a Saito suplex right off the bat, then soon landing a holding fallaway slam for a quick two. Juvi locks in a torture crab hold, but Rey escapes and works over the leg for a bit, then switches to the arm. Juvi gets a short clothesline to take over. Frog splash misses, and Rey slaps on the figure four headscissors. Juventud escapes and grabs a Muta Lock, but Rey gets the ropes. We then get a rapid pin sequence, followed by the PARITY STANDOFF!
After a bit of matwork, Rey hits another spinning wheel kick, then goes for what would become the 619 (Tiger Feint), but it turns into a headscissors instead of a kick to the grill. The tribute to Tiger Mask continues with the Tiger Wall Flip, then Rey gets a Frankensteiner for two. Ligerbomb gets two! Rey then pays homage to Manami Toyota, hitting a Japanese Ocean Suplex for the pin and the first fall!
SEGUNDA CAIDA: While trying to acrobatically dodge Juvi's early aggression, Juvi snags a deadlift German for two. Rey dispatches Juvi with a huge headscissors and follows with a tope suicida to knock Juvi into the fans. Back in, they trade flash pins until Juvi regains control. Splash Mountain powerbomb gets two! After a bit of posturing, Juvi lands a second-rope senton for two. Rey fights back with some rapid-fire kicks, but Juvi stops that with a solebutt, then follows with a springboard dropkick. Juvi hits a double-hammerlock powerbomb and holds the pin for three and the second fall!
TERCERA CAIDA: Juvi goes for a splash, but hits boots. Electric chair is countered into a victory roll by Rey for two. Legdrop, BROTHER, and standing moonsault get two. Juvi gets a sunset flip powerbomb for two! Rey dispatches Juvi and hits a HUGE springboard plancha into the crowd! That results in both guys getting counted out, ending the match in a tie. WE HAVE A DRAW!
**** - That was a lot of crazy shit. Both guys worked at a rapid clip and busted out a lot of SWEET MOVEZ. Seriously, reading the match description that featured a parity sequence followed by copious amounts of Japanese move theft, you’d think you were reading about a 2000’s US indie match, but this was 1995 AAA. I popped when Rey and Juvi busted that stuff out. The match clocked in at around 20 minutes, but really didn't feel anywhere NEAR that. Not a big fan of the inconclusive finish, but at least the move that preceded it was appropriately nutty.
APRIL 22nd
USWA Championship Wrestling - We’re walkin’ in Memphis this week with Lance Russell, who is with Tommy Rich. He calls out Bill Dundee and/or Brian Christopher for a butt-whoopin’.
Superstar obliges and brawls with Thomas in the ring. Brian Christopher comes out to get him some, but Doug Gilbert intercepts him and tosses the dreaded WHITE POWDER into his eyes. Gilbert posts Too Sexy and helps Rich with the beatdown, focusing on the arm of Dundee. PG-13 comes out to chase the dastardly heels off. Superstar may not make his scheduled tag match against WCW Saturday Night pillar The Gambler and Brickhouse Brown. Oh no!
Smoky Mountain Wrestling - Our sole contribution from Smoky Mountain this week comes courtesy of Smoky Mountain tag champs Al Snow and Unabomb. Snow addresses the piledriver-filled beatdown of Ricky Morton, saying the intention was to put him out of wrestling for good. We now have a EULOGY for Ricky, complete with a sad-looking wooden coffin. I have a feeling that Unabomb will become more familiar with caskets in the future.
Snow and Unabomb tease throwing their belts into the coffin but opt not to. Well, the whole promotion will end up in there before the year's out.
Anyway, they toss a record of “Old Time Rock n’ Roll”, a bandana, and *sigh* some lingerie into the coffin. Yes, they implied that Ricky Morton wears women's clothing. Having had enough of this shit, Robert Gibson comes out to get some revengeance on the Dynamic Duo. However, they overwhelm Gibson and toss him into the coffin, which Snow attempts to nail shut. Several babyfaces come out to run them off.
Snow definitely had the makings of a good slimy heel, even if some of the jokes either aged very poorly or just didn't land.
WCW Saturday Night - We close the week out with a trip aboard The Mothership. We catch up with Eric Bischoff live from The Bugatti Restaurant in Atlanta. He is with Diamond Dallas Page, who is joined by the Diamond Doll and his heavy, Max Muscle.
As discussed last week, DDP had just won $13 million in Vegas. Bischoff tries to ask Kimberly about some jewelry that was recently pawned that she is wearing again, but DDP tells her to…
DDP gloats about his newfound wealth, bragging about his prowess in stud poker, blackjack, and craps. He then orders some Dom Perignon, pronouncing it like Zapp Brannigan would. DDP declares his intention to get WCW gold around his waist to complement the gold he has…pretty much everywhere else. As we close out the segment, Diamond Doll receives some flowers from an unknown sender that is totally not Dave Sullivan or anything. As least that makes more sense than giving someone a goddamn rabbit in a Lisa Frank-esque shopping bag.
I gotta say, DDP was really funny here. WCW, for its myriad faults from around this time, can deliver some good intentional humor.
Man, what a brutal week. Not in terms of the volume of content, but from the first three matches. Three different flavours of grumpy men beating the absolute shit out of each other. Like a bowl of hard-hitting Neapolitan ice cream. Always a good time! That Rey/Juvi match also delivered on the fun and was a nice contrast to the other matches, even with some obvious puroresu influence.
NEXT TIME: The actual content from the Goodhelmet compilation for next week is going to be fairly minimal. In fact, we only have the finish to one match shown and a bunch of promos and vignettes. However, a VERY infamous weekend of shows happened at that time, so I’ll probably talk about them and do a few of the notable matches from those cards as BONUS CONTENT.
Smell ya later!