Hiya!  This time around Me n Pete were supposed to try to outsleaze each other as I pick up the warm, festering remains of the shitty second half of the NEW! NOW! show I reviewed half of last week and go right into the seedy yet great BIG JAPAN promotion ands promise and heartbreak that it always promises.

&*&*&*&*&*&* PROMOCIONES SANDOVAL - 8/26/99
(PHIL SCHNEIDER!)

Mini Rey Mysterio Jr./Mini Psychosis vs. Mini Halloween/Enfermerito:
This match was really weird to watch Mini Rey Jr. wrestle, as he was exactly the same proportion as the regular Rey Jr. when compared to the other midgets, so it looked like a regular Rey match. Mini Rey still had his mask, although he was wearing some Rey-Reyish camo pants. Pretty good midget match, with Mini Rey hitting a nice Asai moonsault and min-Psicosis popped a sweet tope. Mini Halloween kind of disgraced the mask by not dying, and Enfermerito wasn't much. Mini Psic turns on mini-Rey and the ruditos get the win.

Arandu / Mr. Tempest/ X-Man vs. Genghis Kahn / Pandilleros 1+2:
This was a fun little undercard-lucha-match by the numbers. Arandu is sort a generic masked semi-highflying technico, Mr. Tempest is an unmasked Tony Rivera/Hector Garzish luchadore who probably was the rulingist guy in the match, and X-Man was a scrawny high flyer in a cheap looking Wolverine costume. Genghis Khan is fat-rudo in a mask #546, and the Pandilleros are long time Tijuana undercard brawlers who are quite adept at what they do. This match had the prerequisite Lucha comedy, i.e. rudos hitting their partner, multiple goofy rollups etc., but all the moves were performed quite adequately and was enjoying myself until all heck breaks loose. They start the big higspot train with Arandu doing a run up the ropes plancha- ‘neat' I think, then Mr. Tempest hits a huge plancha to the floor- ‘rockin' I say  ‘this Mr. Tempest is a good little worker', then X-Man goes for a tope ....and the fat Pandillero walks away... and lil X-Man flies through the ropes and lands on his face on the floor with a sickening thud ... ‘HOLY FUCK' I exclaim as I wear out the rewind button watching the carnage. Fun match, with the bump at the end being the blood stained cherry on top.

El Satanico / Scorpio Jr. vs. Tony Rivera / Tineblas Jr.:
Santanico and Rivera are good, Tineblas and Scorpio stink. Rivera and Satanico mail it in, Phil FAST FORWARDS....

Fuerza Guerrerra / Juventud Guerrerra / Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. / Negro Casas / Emilo Charles Jr.:
With all the talent involved in this match, it should have be a show stealer, but I was kind of disappointed.  The majority of the match was a listless lucha brawl, which is as bad as lucha gets. You have some wordclass mat wrestlers in there, and we hardly saw a mat segment at all. Honestly this match wasn't as good as your average WCW Saturday Night Lucha match. There was some decent work by Juvi and Rey, but the rest of the workers sort of mailed it in. Dr. Wagner Jr. was deeply into crappy 1995 EMLL Dr. Wagner Jr. mode as opposed to 1998 New Japan Dr. Wagner Jr. mode. The match got a lot of heat, but really wasn't much to write home about.

Psicosis vs. Rey Mysterio, Sr. - Mascara contra Cabellera:
There are few things more transcendental then watching Psicosis in Tijuana. While wrestling in the U.S. or in other parts of Mexico, he seems to have at least a glancing attachment to his body. In Tijuana, that attachment ends, he doesn't give a fuck. This match wasn't all that great, but it was our boy Psicosis attempting to die, die, die. He starts the death with an insane tope onto Rey Mysterio as Rey was walking down the aisle, he tosses Rey in the ring, hits a rolling guillotine with a chair and gets the pin. In the second fall Psicosis  attempts a dozen different ways to give himself a concussion. Those include the Raven drop toe hold on the chair, the tree of woe chair dropkick to the face, and Rey Sr. giving him a powerbomb through two chairs.  In the third fall Psicosis says "I am not letting fucking X-Man out bump me on the show where I am losing my mask) and takes the craziest ringpost bump ever, he flyes through the corner, only stopping his momentum enough to toast his arm, and goes flying on to the concrete floor. It was breathtaking in it's total disregard for personally safety. The third fall is all bookerific, with Juventud (who was Psic's second) turning on him, and a Rey Jr. run-in, all before Rey Sr., with help from Juvi, gives Psicosis a German Suplex to take his mask. The rudos (Rey Sr., Juvi, Halloween and Damien) pose with the mask as the crowd rains garbage on them. This match was fun, although Psicosis basically had to wrestle around Rey Sr. who did nothing.  Misterio The Elder is not really an opponent but more like a spotter in this. I would have like to see him drop it in a classic, to Rey Jr. or Juventud, but this match definitly had the death quotient that, you need in Tijuana Psicosis matches.

$%$%$%$%$%$%$ Giant Baba’s 30th Anniversary Show - 9/30/90
(PHIL RIPPA!):
I got this tape from Robert for the single reason because it had Joe Malenko - The World’s Plainest Wrestler. Of course, when you have  Kawada/ Misawa vs. Jumbo/Taue that is going to cement the deal. The tape doesn’t have the entire card. That means I don’t get to see Rex King and Steve Doll wrestling in All Japan. It also means that I don’t have to see Mighty Inoue or Rusher Kimura. I really made out well.

The British Bulldogs vs. Joe & Dean Malenko:
This is British Bulldogs Version 2.0 as it is Dynamite Kid and Johnny Smith. Dynamite looks just like Sid Vicious. That would be Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols in his final days. To really know what Joe looks like, look at Dean Malenko now. Dean has developed the gut that Joe had 10 years ago. If you want mat wrestling this is the match for you. There is no real story and there is a lack of transitions and what not. It is pretty much Guy A manages takedown. Guy B escapes. Back to the vertical base. Let Guy C and D try something. It all rules. Joe Malenko does about a zillion different leg takedowns all from impossible angles. Dean does the coolest escape from a head scissors as he figures out how to twist his body and go straight into a camel clutch. Johnny Smith carries the load for his team but Dynamite can still hang with the fellows. He stands on the ring apron looking like he is about to die, then he gets tagged in and he is bouncing around dishing out chops and snap suplexes. Dean bounces around the ring like a Superball compared to Joe. He busts out the leg lariat and a high knee and you can see Joe shaking his head thinking, “Come on. Keep it on the mat. What would dad say?” The flashiest thing that Joe does is a Northern Lights Suplex. Dynamite Kid gets busted open as a pre-existing cut get reopened on a bump to the floor. Right after that the finish comes as Dean goes for a tombstone on Dynamite but Smith dropkicks him down and the Bulldogs get the win. Ending came out of nowhere and I wonder if they maybe BROUGHT IT HOME early because of the Kid’s bleeding. Oh well, the match rules and kids everywhere should find as much Joe Malenko matches as they can.

Kimala #2/Danny Spivey vs. Johnny Ace/Kenta Kobashi:
This was, umm….. very business exposing. That of course was all due to Kimala #2 and Spivey. Spivey was doing a horrible job of calling spots as I am sure people in Taiwan could hear him. Meanwhile, #2 spent about 8 minutes doing the Cheek Massage of Doom. Ace plays the Dynamic Dude in trouble and nothing goes right. Finally, the hot tag is made. In the confusion, Ace hits an Ace Crusher on #2 that takes the Business Exposing cake as #2 starts rotating before Ace even starts to fall to the canvas. So basically, #2 freefalls to the mat and is so stunned by the forces of gravity that Ace gets the pin. Just to make sure you see how bad the Ace Crusher was we get a replay of it. IN SLOW MO! This was not good.

Misawa/Kawada vs. Tsuruta/Taue:
Now this was all sorts of good. Jumbo is all fired up and wants a piece of Misawa so bad that he shoves Taue out of the way so he can start the match. The usually stiffness follows as Misawa and Kawada decide that the first body part they are going to work on is Jumbo’s cheek bone. Jumbo, being the man that he is, takes about 48 forearm shivers right in the face. Jumbo chops his way back into control and takes in Taue. This is where the match takes an usually turn. Taue has a bandage on his forehead that basically screams KICK ME HERE. Kawada does. A lot. The camera is about 6 inches away from the action so you can see that Kawada is not pulling anything. This leads to Taue pumping blood all over the place. Hey, who needs the blade when you have Kawada to do the damage for you. So as the carnage continues, the crowd gets solidly behind Taue. Which in turn leads to Kawada and Misawa working as the subtle heels, which is really weird. The beat down last for awhile too. Finally, Taue makes the tag to Jumbo who becomes the very definition of Hot Tag. Various chops and knees swing the momentum of the match. You expect the end to come and they tease it as everyone manages to get dropped right on their noggin at various points but no one will stay down. Kawada, the King of Stoicism, shows a brief flash of frustration as he can’t get the pin on the weakened Taue. Misawa can’t get the victory even after hitting the Tiger Driver on Taue because Jumbo saw it coming and was ready to make the save before Misawa even completed the move. Finally the bell rings and I realized that we have gone BROADWAY!!!! I think the match was 30 minutes. Of the Supercard website, they say the match was 45. I don’t remember but it was long and it went BROADWAY!!!!! Despite the finish, the match kick a lot of ass, especially Taue taking a king-sized whopping.

Giant Baba/Abdullah the Butcher vs. Andre the Giant/Stan Hansen:  This was so painful to watch. The only thing I enjoyed was the prematch Abby interview. In all my tape watching, I had yet to hear Abby the Rib Joint owner from Atlanta speak. He talks about how he doesn’t know if he and Baba can get along since the have had a lot of matches against each other. Hey it’s foreshadowing. The match ain’t good. Andre is pretty much beyond the twilight of his years and we know Baba ain’t doing anything. Hansen and Abby carry the load for a little while. Abby jabs his ever-present object into his opponent’s throats. Baba gets upset. Baba and Abby fight. Baba kicks Abby. Abby gets pinned. Hey, Baba lost at his own Anniversary show. To bad this match wasn’t clipped like Inoki’s match at HIS Inoki-fest.

@#@#@#@#@#@  Lucha Libre -  GRUPO INTERNACIONAL REVOLUCION -  Arena Naucalpan, Mexico
(REV RAY DUFFY!)
Hey, this was the first thing on the tape and I don't remember watching it or being reveiwed, so what the hell!

The show opens with interviews with Super Muneco (technico) and America (rudo) about an upcoming match.

Zonick/Saito (t) vs. Rey Cuervo/Neon (r) :
Saito is wearing his mentor's old outfit when he wrestled without a hood. Neon wears a truly horrific greeen and purple and paisley and red type outfit.  Zonick and Neon pair off early with Zonick knocking him out to the floor twice and teasing a dive
ending with him possing.  SAITO does the the run up the ropes backflip kick during the match, which is something I really don't remember him using before.   Neon gets the first fall by hitting an enzugiri to the lower back of Zonick and slapping an inverted indian death lock on him and then did a few DX chops until Zonick submitted.  In the beginning of the second fall, Zonick goes for what I guess is a stunner, but it gets totally blown.  The last fall ends with Zonick putting Neon's head between his legs and pulling up on his arms in the corner, Rey tries to charge, but Saito hits him with a springboard body press, Rey charges again and gets backdropped where he's supposed to land sitting on Neon's back, but he misses and has to jump up there and then Saito puts him in a surfboard type move with Rey's legs on Neon's back for the win.  Not one for the permanant tape.

Mochizuki/Mercurio (r) vs. Kanda/Fantasy (t) :
One next thing about the show is the graphics tell you what their gear is and if their technicos or rudos. Kanda and Mochizuki open up with some mat work and tag out.  Mercurio doesn't want to tie up with Fantasy at the start.  It should also be noted
that one of the referee's has an outfit that looks like a suit with a vest with gold lame on the back.  Fantasy's outfit is purple with a silver stars on it.  His mask is sort of cool.  First fall comes when Kanda catches Mochizuki's legs in the corner and powerbombs him.  Fantasy follows it by turning a Mercurio body scissors roll up attempt into a full nelson for the first caidia.  Kanda and Mochizuki open up the second caida.  Kanda hits a great looking powerslam off the ropes.  Kanda gets trapped in the ring and the rudos work on his shoulder.  They pin Kanda following a Mochizuki top rope knee to the shoulder and Mercurio pins Fantasy with a powerbomb.  Rudos control the openning of the final caida, but the technicos fight back.
Mochizuki gets posted by Fantasy on the floor.  They set up something with Kanda going for his top rope elbow, but he slips off when he tries to leap off.  The set up some sterio spots with the technicos hitting some stuff until they miss sterio asai moonsaults.  Mercurio gets Fantasy to tap to the camel clutch and Mochizuki gets the pin on Kanda with the NLS.  Kanda showed some flashes of goodness in this.  This wasn't totally horrible.

Ultimo Vampiro/Slayer/Multifacetico (t) vs. Geo/Neo/Principe Maya (r) :
Maya (who's outfit sort of is like the Azteca Dr. Wagner entrance gear) and Vampiro (who sort of looks like a black and silver version of Arkangel de la Muerte) start out with Vampiro getting the upperhand.  Neo and Geo I guess are partners as their outfits look sort of the same, but the one in pink looks like he never met a burrito he didn't like... and pink ain't a slimming color.  They do a spot where Slayer keeps getting full nelsoned bysomeone and their partner keeps chopping their own guy.  This happens about 5 times in a row, Maya puts the full nelson on Slayer, Neo and Geo let himout of the hold and start hitting their partner. the fall ends with Vampiro doing a vault flip off of Slayer into a rana on Geo, Neo submits to a Slayerdouble chickenwing hold and Multifacetio hits a springboard body press to take out Maya.  Second caida opens with Slayer taking Maya out to the floor,Maya walks around to the other side of the ring to avoid him, so Slayer slides out to the floor, runs around the other side and meets him with adrop kick.  The Rudos take over in the floor.  Geo does a spot where he catches Multifacetico and gives him the Vader Face Eraser onto Neo's feet asNeo lays on the mat.  Rudos get the fall on Vampiro following some triple teaming and a Maya springboard into a somersault senton.  Rudos continue the beating in the third caido as they grab Multi by his arms, legs and head and group slam him a few times.  Vampiro fights out of some triple teaming athe
ruos fight back.  We get the dive train going as Vampiro hits a tope con hilo and hits the railing and a woman in the front row with his legs.  And just then... the tape runs out...  Of note from the match, Ultimo Vampiro looked pretty good and Neo and Geo had some neat double teams and their outfits were sort of cool.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
%^%^%^%^%^% SINGLESGOINGSTEADY!%^%^%^%^%^%^%
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Michael Modest/Robert Thompson vs. Kuame Kamoze/ Jay Smooth - APW 1/17/98
(PHIL SCHNEIDER):
This is the first in a series of APW reports for SGS, where I (and possibly Dean and the Ripper) will TACKLE THE IDOL TAPE. This match was an Oakland streetfight (which isn't really accurate because it didn't involve 9mm pistols) between Modest and Thompson (who are the two biggest stars in APW) and the West Side Playaz (a kind of Gangstas rip off, although both guys would be New Jack.) This was more of an old school streetfight, as it wasn't just four guys hitting each other with Nintendo's and vibrators. There was some chair usage, and a big sequence where Thompson and Smooth, suplexed each other on a refrigerator, but it was mostly just a old school Memphis brawl. Most modern brawls like this use big dives and table spots as their highspots, but this match replaced those spots with suplexes, which worked well, as Modest is quite the suplex machine and Thompson isn't bad either. The WSP didn't impress me much, although if pressed, I would have to say that Kamoze is the better of the two (he had some nice chops, and seemed to take the suplexes more on his head.) Modest looked great as usual, dumping people on their heads, doing his second turnbuckle neck bump (which he stole from Ray Stevens and really rocks) although he seemed a little out of place in a brawl like this, I have always been down on Thompson, but he impressed me in this match, played the face in peril well, used a whole bunch of fly suplexes and hit a neat stunner on a chair (which Idol dickishly called an Ace Crusher). Pretty fun match, although you would be better off with a Modest wrestling match.

========================
YOUR WRESTLER OF THE WEEK:
BARRY WINDHAM!
========================
NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament :  Barry Windham/Dustin Rhodes v. Hiroshi Hase/Shinya Hashimoto :
(REV RAY! DUFFY!) 
You know, Hashimoto just isn't nearly as cool without his Elvis sideburns.  Laugh as Jesse Ventura and Jim Ross suggest that Hashimoto could be a good pulling guard.  Hash and Hase control early.  The focus on the arms seem to be the order for both teams early. Hashimoto slaps on a triangle scissors lock and dumbs it down a little before slapping on the armbar on Windham.  At one point, Hashimoto challenges Rhodes to fight and gets dropped with jabs and the bionic elbow. Hashimoto answers with a jab to the throat and follows it up with his spinning heel kick and looks like it gets all eye socket on Rhodes.  They follow it up with a spiked piledriver.  Rhodes tries to fight back with elbows, but Hase drops him with a chop.  Windham comes in to break up a double team, but the NJPW team continues to control.  Hase hits an overhead belly to belly, but takes too long going for a double knee from the top and allows Rhodes to make the hot tag to Windham.  Windham works both men down with punches.  He slaps the abdominal stretch on Hase and works on his ribs. Hashimoto comes in for the save, but Windham decks him.  They get a 4 man brawl.  Hase gets whipped to the ropes by Rhodes who leap frogs him and runs right into a Windham flying lariat and Windham gets the pin.  It was kind of short, but still a pretty cool match.  Considering it was the second match each team had that night and Windham/Rhodes were going to follow it up with Doc and Gordy.

Barry Windham vs. Dick Murdoch - WWF Early 80’s:
This was on the same tape that had that Murdoch/Adonis vs. Briscos match that Dean did a couple a weeks ago. Dean, the complete and utter moron that he is, didn’t keep watching the tape and a few matches later was this gem. Murdoch is still in full force and Windham was young and great. This match is boss because it is Murdoch gets up in Windham’s face and tells him, “Listen boy, I’m still the toughest SOB in the land.” Windham responds, “Mr. Murdoch, sir, you’re my favorite wrestler. I’m idolized you when I was growing up. My dad stunk. I want to be like you.” Then you get to watch as Windham becomes Dick Murdochcito. Every stiff elbow, Windham matches. Every goofy facial expression, Windham matches. Windham also takes it into the next generation by bumping like a fiend as Murdoch waffles him. The highlight is when, Windham sells a punch by toppling backwards over the ropes. He lands headfirst on the ring apron and just stays there for a moment. I was like, “that’s gonna leave a mark”. Murdoch is choice in this match too. He sells an abdominal stretch like he was dying. He spits all over himself selling a post shot. He also gets all dickish and pummels Windham with a crutch that he stole from a guy at ringside. Windham wins a he rolls through on a Murdoch slam. Murdoch is suitable pissed, grabs the microphone (which is conveniently still on) and jabs it into Windham’s head. The resounding thump is worth watching this match alone.
 

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