Brian's Mix Disc #10 (Hustle)

I've chosen to review this one because it's the only footage I've seen of Hustle; I was forewarned by Brian.

1) Monster C & Punch the C v. Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka- 0
2) Monster HG & Punch the C v. Genichiro Tenryu & RG- 1
3) Toshiaki Kawada v. Great Sasuke- 2
4) Toshiaki Kawada v. Magnum Tokyo- 4
5) Cowboy Lance Cade & Rene Bonaparte v. Magnum Tokyo & Tajiri- 4
6) Rey Ohara/ Private Shoji/ Sakoku Mask v. Kaikoku Mask/ Tajiri/ KG- 3

Holy Fuck, I don't know who or what dreamed this shit up but here it is, on display. First match was bad beyond all my expectations, the 2 veterans looked like they just got euthanized, barely committing to any physical motion at all. Luckily the torture didn't last long. 2nd match garners a point from my pure amusement at Punch the C, whose whole gimmick is to make the letter "C" with his hand and get the fans to cheer. Funny spot where he would do a Lifter and drop to his knee with a C, he even got his oponents to do it. RG was a lousy pud who had less athletic ability than a cleft foot 3 year old. I was intrigued by this 3rd match but would much rather let my memories of these competitors stay intact. Sasuke was trying, god bless him, but totally missed a plancha onto the apron and got lost under the ring. Kawada was a bloated mess, seemingly only able to use his legs for kicks, as if his arms had lost motor function. This also didn't last long, thankfully.

This was a good 20 minute match here, with a spectacular entrance by Tokyo, who I first discovered in the lovely Toryumon promotion. Kawada tried to reclaim his glory days, but unlike Bruce, his are long behind him. His whole contribution to the match was stiff kicks, and the pace was unbearably slow. They tried to use some different counters for crowd reaction late in the match but Kawada could garner no heat. He actually lost to the stripper turned wrestler in a surprise, but my elation couldn't force me to grade this any higher. This tag was arguably the best thing far and away on the show. Tajiri showed amazing range in his selling, such believable facials and he kept the match tied together. Tokyo was given the hot tag at the end but not much else. Cade is a monster, never realized it in the WWE Universe world, but I think he'd fit right in with a permanent role in Japan ring wars. Our closing 6 person match featured a strange array of characters. First off the face team was berated by General Takada, once a great shoot fighter, now a bad M. Bison ripoff. KG was a petite young woman busting out Dragon Kid's arsenal, Sakoku was your traditional Samurai masked dude, complete with top knot. Kaikoku was wearing a Sgt. Pepper's outfit with Leatherface's mask and Beethoven's hair. He was accompanied to the ring with what I could best describe as a dude wearing a plush Potato costume that had eyes, red swim trunks and 2 leaves for hair. Fuck i need a drink. Tajiri and Rey kept a good pace and I liked their exchanges but that was about it. A poor dive sequence and a 450 from Kaikoku that was sloppier than Manwich finished this disc off.