Big Japan Pro-Wrestling 5/28/10

Big Japan Pro-Wrestling

5/28/10 (aired 6/9/10 on Samurai! TV)
Korakuen Hall (Tokyo, Japan)

1) Isami Kodaka, Kankuro Hoshino & Mototsugu Shimizu vs. Atsushi Ohashi, Ryuichi Kawakami & Shinobu – 4
2) Ebessan & Yuichi Taniguchi vs. Daikokubo Benkei & Kanjyouro Matsuyama – 3
3) MEN's Teioh, Onryo & Shiori Asahi vs. Daisuke Masaoka, Hercules Senga & Tsutomu Oosugi – 5
4) Madoka & Shuji Ishikawa vs. Kazuki Hashimoto & Takumi Tsukamoto – 4
5) Daisuke Sekimoto & Yoshihito Sasaki vs. Takashi Sasaki & Yuko Miyamoto – 6
6) Jaki Numazawa, Jun Kasai & Masashi Takeda vs. Abdullah Kobayashi, Ryuji Ito & Shadow WX - Fluorescent Lighttubes Death Match – 8

Something that crystalized in this viewing was prime BJW and CZW share a commonality that I really, truly enjoy. While both are known primarily as death match purveyors, their bookers knew well enough to diversify the cards. And so you get a smorgasbord of pro wres~! Some novices getting in valuable ring time, high-flying action with juniors, hard-hitting feats of head-dropping fare, some theatrical flair, blood feuds and rivalries, etc. usually climaxing in a crescendo of carnage.

(Note: Sadly – some time has passed since my 1st draft of this piece, and I lost all my notes. I’m decided to still post it because I enjoyed the show and wanted to share that joy. I have thousands of pro wres discs and picked a routine BJW show at random and was so glad I did. I know in my notes I talked about digging Onyro’s undead ghost gimmick. I think perhaps at the time this aired, but even earlier than that, say ’99 or so when friends and I would trade RF Video catalogues around in study hall, BJW had seemingly seen its heyday and most of us had moved on. But watching this show made me think we took it for granted. The main event, which again, I wish I had more detailed notes on, was such a spectacle. Yes, we had some lukewarm crowd brawling early, but by the time they hit the thrilling final stretch, with one unbelievable death-defying bump after another, I was on the edge of my seat more than I was during any of the films nominated at the Oscar’s ceremony last weekend. The amount of torn flesh was like something out of the New French Extremity movement. Hard to pick an MVP .. maybe Ryuji Ito but all these barbaric dudes deserve their flowers.)