On My Screen This Week (don’t miss the clickable links!)
When I’m looking for some nostalgia, I often reach for this UK Rampage match - one of the first wrestling bouts I ever saw, as I borrowed a friend’s Sky Movies Plus recording in the weeks after it aired live on April 24, 1991. It’s not a match that is readily suggested when discussing homecoming moments for The British Bulldog, but I’ve watched the Summerslam 1992 main event more than almost anyone not named Smith or Hart, and the April 1992 UK Rampage clash with IRS is nothing to write home about.
Davey Boy Smith versus The Berzerker, however, does have that intrigue because The Berzerker (John Nord) is having a whale of a time. No-selling in a manner that would make The Undertaker blush, and generally giving Smith nothing in his home country, his performance is so excitable that at one point Vince McMahon seems forced to exclaim, “What is this man doing?!”
The Berzerker was a sub on the card for Rick Martel, who spent the second half of 1991 on tour for Genichiro Tenryu’s SWS promotion in Japan. This pairing actually wrestled each other two days previously in Montreal, Canada, so given that the match was hardly made up on the fly, I’m inclined to believe that Nord was just so busy trying to get himself over on television that he failed to give Smith his requisite shine.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the match is that where Smith gets his nose bloodied on an errant boot, which caused three drastic edits on the subsequent home video release. I’ve since been able to take a look at the original live broadcast, and the blood spillage is minor, to the point that it’s astonishing that the editing team preferred to butcher the release to avoid on a VHS exempt from BBFC classification anyway.
All this does is add to the intrigue of the bout, though, even if the result - and indeed the finish - is inevitable. To compound matters, after the three-count The Berzerker immediately rolls out of the ring, leaving a weary Smith exasperated when he should’ve been celebrating a victory with the crowd that came to see him. (***1/4)
Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Takuma Sano (NOAH; June 6, 2003)
On first glance, this might seem like a run-of-the-mill singles match for Mitsuharu Misawa on the last day of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Navigation For Breeze tour. What it turns into, however, is a fiery 17-minute contest in which Sano is ready and willing to throw his deadly spin kick, much to the pleasure of an audience that wants to see their hero face a challenge.
Sano’s strikes are quite brutal, and Misawa doesn’t hold back with his patented elbows, either. This is a fairly basic contest, but the hits are hard, and the pacing keeps the crowd not just interested, but invested in the outcome. (***3/4)
This match is exactly what you would expect… except that it’s a little better than you would expect. Scott Norton was the question mark going into the contest; would he be able to keep up, and not drag the match down? As it happens, he puts in a fine performance without sacrificing what makes his gimmick work, that being that you might have better luck knocking down a brick wall.
Norton’s headbutts here appear devastating, and things don’t get any better for Hiroshi Hase and Keiji Muto when Shinya Hashimoto comes in and dumps them with suplexes as he pleases. Norton raises the ante with a vicious neck crank on Hase, only for his partner to show a blatant disregard for Muto’s safety in countering a moonsault.
What really helps this match tick is that you can see each wrestler work to a team strategy to try and gain the victory; there’s no suggestion that either duo will try and beat the other at their own game. (***1/2)
Norio Honaga was a former three-time IWGP junior-heavyweight champion and, of all the grapplers to have held the belt from its inception in 1986 to the turn of the century, was the least likely of them. With a mop of permed hair seemingly patterned after his trainer, Hiro Saito, Honaga had no identifiable ring style when compared to the expertise of Naoki Sano, Owen Hart, and Liger himself.
Still, he had defeated Liger in the finals of the Top of the Super Juniors a month before this bout, taking the belt that Liger had vacated for the tournament. In that match, Honaga had ripped Liger’s mask, about which Liger was none too pleased, but Honaga goes a step further here, destroying Liger’s mask to the point that the latter decides the remains aren’t worth keeping on his head at all.
This disrespect triggers a beatdown by a furious Liger, who uses chairs and the unprotected turnbuckle to not just lacerate Honaga, but to fill his hair thick with blood. The kicking seems to go on forever until Honaga finally gets back into it and uses Liger’s rage against him.
Liger versus Honaga is one of the most underrated feuds in New Japan junior-heavyweight history, not because of the consistent five-star classics - there aren’t any - but because of how different a programme this was for Liger. (***1/4)
Masanobu Fuchi & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW; January 7, 1994)
Nearly four years after the beginning of the Tsuruta-gun versus Super Generation Army feud, it was still raging on in All Japan Pro Wrestling, except with Toshiaki Kawada at the helm of the heel side. Misawa versus Kawada is the feud of the 1990s, and five months after this, their rivalry peaks with a match so famous it is simply known by its date, “6.3.94”.
Kawada has a special place in his cold, black heart for Misawa. Acquaintances and occasional friends in their youth, their competitive spirit caused a rivalry that spilt into pro wrestling. Essentially taking over from an ill Jumbo Tsuruta in 1993, Kawada always seemed to have a bit of extra malevolence for Misawa, and shows it again here in the crispness of his kicks and clotheslines.
Kobashi doesn’t exactly get it easy, and has seemingly been singled out as the weak link to punish with back suplexes, two of which end in appalling landings. Still, when he is able to tag Misawa - who is selling a pectoral injury with subtle excellence - Kobashi himself fires back en route to a simple yet beautifully executed television finish. (***3/4)
On My Podcast App This Week:
This podcast series is delving into the early days of Japanese women’s wrestling via a wealth of discussion on the country’s history and culture. I’m an episode-and-a-half in, and it’s been fascinating to hear the subject approached from this angle.
A thorough, energetic discussion from Rich and Joe, as you’ve come to expect if you’re a regular listener. The Voices of Wrestling Flagship podcast is the backbone of my wrestling listening each week.
In an uncomfortable but essential listen, James Flahavan continues his unique approach to the wrestling podcast in the form of an audio essay discussing the latest developments in Speaking Out.
While not for those who have children within earshot, Jim Cornette’s review of AEW Revolution is typically informative while also being amusingly crass. A must-listen for those who feel they have outgrown wrestling, although you might want to be aware that some of his insults do get personal.
A Little Bit Of Housekeeping
I’ll be back next week, hopefully with some podcast content to change things up. If you’re a subscriber and would like me to tackle a particular subject, feel free to suggest it at brian(at)hardcopy(dot)ie.
I am available for further editing and occasional writing work, with my expertise being in pro wrestling, mixed martial arts, football (soccer), and classic rock music. You can inquire about my rates by emailing brian(at)hardcopy(dot)ie. I can also provide professional editing feedback, or offer advice or mentoring, by prior agreement and through the same email address.