W*ING TAKE OFF 2ND 6/12/96
In terms of form, this was like the NWO doing the first Souled Out event in 1997 in that they all work for a main federation (FMW), but have their own faction that is lightly regarded as a separate entity. W*ING was FMW's rival in garbage wrestling from 1992 to 1994, with Kanemura and Hido as two of its top products. Since then, both joined FMW while Hideki Hoaska aligned with them to carry on the W*ING banner. This was the biggest push yet for the trio, which was not only given its own event at Korakuen Hall, but all three wrestlers fought at least twice (Kanemura fought 3 times) in the same show. Another unique aspect of the tape was its opener, which was Kanemura vs Hido, teammates in the W*ING group.
For a one-hour tape, they did a very good job of covering this event and used tape time well. The tape had only five matches, the first four of which were partially or significantly edited. However, the editing worked out well in that most matches got the air time they deserved. The tape began with somewhat of a press conference and progressed to capturing comments from fans about the event as they entered Korakuen Hall. One eerie moment on this tape saw the appearence of a child no older than 8 or 9 years during this segment- amazing that someone that young would be allowed to attend one of these hardcore shows. The event itself began with a brief opening speech by W*ING Kanemura with Hido & Hosaka also in the ring.
Match 1 (Ladder match): W*ING Kanemura vs Hido
This was a wild match for the most part. Hido dominated early and took the fight through the crowd, out of the main arena and up to the balcony, where they tried to throw each other off from a height
of about 20 feet.Kanemura was already bleeding like crazy a couple minutes into the match. He top rope splashed Hido through a table on the floor and cut Hido's head with a piece of the table. Hido
threw a ton of chairs into the ring, as did Kanemura. They used the sea of chairs as a weapon, including Hido burying Kanemura in them and moonsaulting him for a good near fall. Kanemura
powerbombed Hido on the chairs for a near fall. He legdropped Hido off the ladder and pinned him at 15:32. Not great, but entertaining most of the way. 13:45 of the match aired. ***
Match 2: Ricky Fuji & Kamikaze vs Hayato Nanjyo & Gosaku Goshogawara
Decent action between Fuji and Hayato including Fuji doing a tope. Fuji and Kamikaze did some entertaining double team moves. Hayato did a triple jump moonsault onto Fuji for a near fall. Gosaku got
good heat even though he was the blandest worker of the four. Good fan heat for the last two minutes. Kamikaze made Gosaku submit at 13:50. 4:36 aired. Decent match, looked to be ** or slightly
better.
Match 3: W*ING Kanemura vs Toryu
Kanemura was already bleeding as taped footage began. Toryu hit an Asai moonsault and gained a near fall with a powerbomb. The work and heat were overall decent. Toryu carried the action and
did a good job. Kanemura broke a chair over Toryu's head and pinned him at 7:29. 4:51 aired. A solid match, but not much to it. **
Match 4: Hideki Hosaka vs Mr. Pogo
Pogo used a jagged sickle and a michete to slice Hosaka's head open. There was a scary spot where Pogo was going to hit Hosaka with the sickle but Hosaka kicked it out of Pogo's grip, sending it
flying into the crowd. Hosaka used a barbed wire bat on Pogo and drew decent heat from the crowd. Pogo then used a michete on Hosaka and DDTd him on a chair for a near fall. Pogo used a chain
to hang Hosaka over the ropes but Hosaka fought back and the crowd went nuts. Pogo piledrove Hosaka on a barbed wire bat and chairs and pinned him at 15:50. 7:20 of this match aired. Bad match
although fans went nuts for the extreme violence. 3/4*
Match 5 (Streetfight): W*ING Kanemura, Hido & Hideki Hosaka (W*ING) vs Masato Tanaka, Koji Nakagawa & Tetsuhiro Kuroda (FMW)
Super match with tons of wild action and great near falls at the end. The action was wild from the start. Kanemura and Tanaka had a great exchange of offense early on. The fan heat was also
rabid right from the beginning. Hosaka and Kuroda also had a really good in-ring exchange for a minute before they joined the other four in action outside the ring. Fans were even popping for near
falls in the early minutes even though each was clearly not going to be the finish. Kuroda used a table and chairs to draw even more blood from Kanemura's forehead. Hido piledrove Tanaka
through a table in the crowd. Action briefly settled down at 8:00 but quickly picked up again as did the heat. Kuroda gained a near fall on Hosaka after two German suplexes. Kanemura gained a
near fall on Tanaka after a powerbomb. Tanaka gained a near fall on Hido after a tornado DDT and another after a powerbomb. He gained another near fall on Hido after a roaring elbow. Tanaka
then powerbombed and pinned Hido at 12:59 to the pro-W*ING crowd's dismay. Super, wild action from start to finish, great near falls in the last four minutes and rabid heat from start to finish.
One of the more memorable FMW-style hardcore matches. ****1/4
I am not one to easily recommend one-hour tapes, and while I do not enthusiastically recommend this one, it is not a bad tape at all. Actually, it is a pretty good tape that captures the FMW flavor very well. Specifically, the main event is one of the greatest FMW/W*ING matches I have ever seen and is definitely worth tracking down in some form, be it on a compilation tape or otherwise.