FRONTIER MARTIAL-ARTS WRESTLING CHAMP FORUM
Aired December 1995
1. Koji Nakagawa vs Ricky Fuji
Fuji armdragged Nakagawa before the bell but Nakagawa fought back with a hiptoss. Nakagawa armdragged Fuji and Fuji bailed out of the ring. Fuji won a test of strength and maneuvered Nakagawa into a pinning position. After a decent criss cross exchange Fuji landed a superkick and clotheslined Nakagawa. Fuji then hit a tope suicida and hit Nakagawa with a chair. Fuji maintained his dominance in the ring with uninspired offense. Nakagawa landed a couple chops but Fuji maintained the advantage. Fuji suplexed Nakagawa and gave him a kneedrop for a near fall. Fuji’s offense was so basic he even resorted to biting Nakagawa. Fuji gave Nakagawa a snapmare/kick sequence and a couple legdrops for a near fall. Fuji missed a corner splash and Nakagawa rolled him up for a near fall. Fuji shoved Nakagawa into the corner and slammed him. Fuji hit a flying bodypress but Nakagawa rolled through and gained a near fall. Fuji applied a sharpshooter albeit a weak one but Nakagawa then applied a sharpshooter of his own. Fuji fought back and gave him a rolling fireman’s carry slam for a near fall. Fuji landed a chop but Nakagawa caught him and gave Fuji his own rolling fireman’s carry slam. Nakagawa applied a sharpshooter on Fuji. Nakagawa gave Fuji a kneebreaker and applied a figure 4 leglock. Fuji countered a suplex attempt and applied a Fujiwara armbar briefly. Fuji tombstoned Nakagawa and went for a flying bodypress but Nakagawa moved and applied a Fujiwara armbar. Nakagawa pumphandled Fuji’s arm over his shoulder and dropkicked him. Nakagawa attempted a German suplex but Fuji kicked him low. Fuji DDTd Nakagawa and powerbombed him for a near fall. Fuji gave Nakagawa a brainbuster on a chair for a near fall. Nakagawa kicked a charging Fuji and German suplexed him for a near fall. Nakagawa gave Fuji a lariat and a German suplex for the pin at 19:13 (16:36 aired). Not only was this match way too long, they also aired too much of this match. A very lackluster match and below the workers’ potential, but understandable as well. Fuji was generally a decent worker, but had to be carried by better workers to have an exciting match, especially if the match went long because he had a limited moveset. Nakagawa, while solid, was a colorless worker and not good enough nor exciting enough to carry Fuji. The first minute and the last few minutes were okay, but this is not a keeper. *
2. Cage Match: Koji Nakagawa vs Ricky Fuji
Again!? The cage they used was really lame, as the bars were nearly as wide as the participants’ shoulders! They also joined this match in progress, with Fuji on top although both men were bleeding. Fuji gave Nakagawa a tiger driver and made an unsuccessful bid to escape the cage. Fuji gave Nakagawa a brainbuster that briefly broke the fans’ deafening silence. Fuji again tried to leave the cage but Nakagawa caught him and superplexed him. Nakagawa then tried to leave but Fuji caught him and suplexed him. Fuji missed a lariat and Nakagawa German suplexed him. Nakagawa tried to leave but Fuji caught up with him. They exchanged blows atop the cage and Fuji won out. Nakagawa staggered and ended up hanging upside down with his legs caught in the cage. Fuji then dropped to the floor to win the match in 18:57 (5:35 aired). I was surprised initially that they edited this match heavily instead of the previous one, but given that this crowd might have been even quieter than the crowd in the previous match, I guess it was the right move. Also, the finish came off a bit weak. The cage gimmick also seemed pointless because while both men bled, they didn’t show enough intensity to indicate a grudge between them. Overall this didn’t look much better than their previous match.
3. Hayabusa and Mitsuhiro Matsunaga vs W*ING Kanemura & Masato Tanaka
Tanaka and Kanemura attacked their opponents at the bell. Hayabusa whipped Kanemura into a sea of chairs on the floor while Matsunaga got the better of Tanaka in the ring. Tanaka held his own on the mat against Matsunaga and gave him a snapmare and dropkick sequence. Tanaka suplexed Matsunaga and Kanemura kicked him. Matsunaga gave Kanemura some kicks of his own. Hayabusa suplexed Kanemura and applied an armbar. Hayabusa landed a couple kicks but Kanemura fought back and applied an armbar of his own. Tanaka also attacked Hayabusa’s left arm with a couple different armbars. Kanemura slammed Hayabusa and applied a cross armbreaker but Hayabusa quickly reached the ropes. Hayabusa fought back and superkicked Kanemura. Matsunaga gave Kanemura a kick and gained a near fall. Kanemura fought back and gave Matsunaga a spin kick. Tanaka gave Matsunaga some kicks of his own and a running elbow strike in the corner. Tanaka then gave Matsunaga a running chairshot in the corner. He gave Matsunaga a tornado DDT for a near fall. Hayabusa came in but Kanemura hit him with a barbed wire bat twice. Kanemura and Tanaka also hit Matsunaga with the bat. Tanaka kicked Hayabusa and launched off a chair and gave him an elbow. Kanemura corner splashed Hayabusa with the barbed wire bat in front of him and Tanaka ripped Hayabusa’s mask off. Kanemura and Tanaka sliced Hayabusa open with the barbed wire bat. Kanemura suplexed Hayabusa and Tanaka hit a top rope headbutt for a near fall. Matsunaga hit Tanaka with a chair at ringside as Hayabusa spin kicked Kanemura out of the ring. Hayabusa hit a somersault tope on Kanemura and hit him with a chair. Hayabusa rammed Kanemura into the ringpost and hit a slingshot somersault senton and standing moonsault in the ring for a near fall. Hayabusa and Kanemura exchanged chops but Tanaka then hit Hayabusa with a chair. Tanaka slammed Hayabusa on a chair and Kanemura backflipped Tanaka onto Hayabusa for a near fall. They back suplexed Hayabusa onto the chair and then attacked a bloody Matsunaga. They placed Matsunaga on a table and Kanemura came off the apron and hit him with the barbed wire bat. Tanaka then gave Matsunaga a top rope splash through the table. Tanaka dropped Hayabusa gut first on the top rope and Kanemura knocked him to the mat with a top rope legdrop. Tanaka gave Hayabusa a running elbow and a lariat for a near fall. Kanemura powerbombed Hayabusa and Tanaka gave him a blue thunder-like powerbomb for a near fall. Matsunaga intervened but Kanemura threw him out of the ring. Kanemura gave Hayabusa an elbow in the corner but Hayabusa fought back with a spin kick on Tanaka. Hayabusa also gave Kanemura a spinning superkick and Matsunaga hit Kanemura with the barbed wire bat. Hayabusa powerbombed Tanaka for a near fall. He superkicked Tanaka, Tanaka missed a lariat and Hayabusa gave him a released German suplex. Hayabusa gave Tanaka a fisherman buster but Kanemura hit him with the bat. Matsunaga powerbombed Kanemura and Hayabusa powerbombed Tanaka for a near fall. Matsunaga powerbombed Kanemura as Hayabusa gave Tanaka a falcon arrow for the pin at 14:17. After the match was a completely wild scene that saw the 4 combatants embrace and shake hands, but then a ton of wrestlers from the W*ING alliance stormed the ring as well as others. A really good match overall. Not quite as spectacular or as advanced as some of the future FMW brawls, but everyone worked hard. The last few minutes were very intense and eventful and the opening minutes were solid. Matsunaga was obviously the fifth wheel in this match but the other three carried him well and did most of the work. In particular Tanaka looked sharper and more advanced than he did during the previous summer and showed hints of his future greatness. ***
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