El Dorado "I was Born to love Treasure"- 12/29/07 Korauken Hall

You have to love Japanese Indy! This gymnasium was holding roughly 100-125 and that's about it. The quality of this disc was extremely good and was from Brian's new Japanese source, whom I now bow down to and hope to share some sushimi rolls with in the future. All the graphics and video packages were really professional for indy work but the only thing that was distracting is they were using the "Pirates of the Carribbean" action theme song for the whole show. Not sure what Johnny Depp would think about Bear Fukuda but I'm sure they could really smash up a bar if they were stoned enough.

Anyways, onto the action:

1 Kinya Oyanagei & Yuki Sato v. Ken45 & Go- 1

You had two basic guys in basic trunks against another basic guy and the Japanese version of Shannon Moore. He pulled out a wallet chain and tried to choke his opponent with it, but it proved to be his undoing in this extremely short match.

2 Spark Aoki & Masahito Inaba v. Nosawa Rongai & Mazada- 2

I've seen Nosawa several times and his kicks are still hot dynamite. His hair and makeup though probably wouldn't even work at a gay Halloween party. Nosawa and Mazada had a good look and some decent double teams but their opponents were overmatched and didn't put up much of a fight. Another short one.

3 Milano Collection A.T. v. Milanito Collection A.T (Character Deprivation Match)- 3

Looks like Milanito was a young understudy of Milano's and apparently he couldn't cut the mustard so they had this match. Milanito had an awesome dance number before the match featuring 2 Japanese Go-Gos. Henshin a GoGo, Baby! Even Viewtiful Joe couldn't have helped the young whelp here. This was worked at a really slow pace and Milanito's offensive flurries, while athletic, looked odd against such a taller opponent. A sick clothesline finish capped this off and the deprivation of character was over.

4 Sukiyaki (Shuji Kondo/ Naoki Tanisaki/ Antonio Honda/ Mototsugu Shimizu) v. Animal Planets (Toru Owashi/ Bear Fukuda/ Hercules Oosenga/ CHANGO) Elimination Match- 5

This was a really fun match. The idea was you could either be pinned or thrown over the top rope to be eliminated and they really highlighted that aspect early on with some of the smaller guys. Some comedy was thrown in such as some good natured nipple twisting for the kids. In the end, the big boys finished it with some really high impact spots. Bear had on a jersey that said "Rubber Soul." I'll let you draw your own conclusions on that. His partner exectued a devastating running chokeslam that I had never seen and the finish was well done.

5 Kota Ibushi v. KAGETORA- 6

This had the most time to it. I had the feeling watching it that these two young guys came up in training school together and were finally allowed to showcase a great match against each other, or else they had wrestled so many times they knew how to put a good one together. Either way, this was dynamic at times and still showing signs of greeness at other times. Ibushi's slap and kick explosions were in your face and after the first few attempted kicks missed the mark, he was laying them in there, and getting comfortable with knocking skin off another man's face. KAGETORA used his size advantage to work over his smaller opponent with power move after power move but ultimately fell in an exciting climax. I think these two are worth keeping your eye on because you could see the passion they had for Japanese wrestling. And after the match they hugged like brothers, so I think my suspicions are correct.

6 Takuya Sugawara/ Brahman Shu/ Brahman Kei v. "Brother" Yassi/ Jumping Kid Okimoto/ Dick Togo (Trios Ladder Match)- 4

Togo is looking older now, I can see stretch marks on his abdomen like he had a C-Section. Quite strange. The Brahman' s were dudes dressed like the KKK but after taking off their hoods they were adorning the ever increasingly popular skullet look. There was a belt draped over a long cable and the ladders were designed to get them down. This was nothing like a normal ladder match, as they were barely used. The whole match was designed as a brawl but with no good bumps or punches and no real hatred. Togo tried the "Money in the Bank" spot where he leaps from the ropes and lands on the ladder but the damn thing broke and all he could do was grab his ass and laugh- same as his 16th birthday in that strange nightclub. The finish came when one of the Brahman left the ring, then showed up on the balcony and connected a harness to the cable and then started shimmying across it like Tom Cruise in Mission:Impossible!!! I couldn't have dreamt this up, but it was a clever finish and left one of the skullet dudes holding the gold in a pretty forgettable trios match except the high wire act.