Tarzan Goto & Jun Kikuzawa vs. Masayoshi Motegi & Shinichi Nakano, WYF 8/9/1997 - GREAT
This was another piece of fucking great pro wrestling. This was not quite the same chaotic, savage massacre as the previous Goto vs. WDF guys tag, but more of a great southern style tag. Some really fun back and forth wrestling early on which was damn cool to see from such a fat guy as Goto, before Motegi ends up suicide diving right into a Goto chairshot (did I mention Motegi is actually awesome?) which sets up the heat section of Goto again mercilessly fucking up Motegi with various foreign objects, including drilling his face with an umbrella. Motegi screaming for his life while Goto was stubbornly trying to crack a beer bottle over his head before he just breaks it and carves him up gave the whole thing a Hillbilly slasher movie feel. Goto has fucking great punches, too. It all builds very well to Nakano getting the hot tag and in turn messing up everyone with his simple, violent offense. Aside from Goto being awesome you also had the future Kikutaro who at this point was a fun fatboy wrestler that gets messed up by the veterans for being a newbie, at one point Nakano just grabs him and drills his face with knee strikes. Really well worked match that blends southern psychology and japanese hierarchy thinking.
Tarzan Goto & Jun Kikuzawa vs. Basara & Shinichi Nakano, WYF 9/23/1997 - GREAT
Another very good entry in the shockingly awesome WDF vs. Shin FMW series. In this match Nakano teams with Basara, who is a pudgy low ranked guy in an awesome mask (it has a beard). This matchup gives Nakano and Goto the opportunity to work a really nice opening match section, where both guys have great armdrags, firemans carries etc. and then kick the shit out of the lower ranked guy on the other team. Nakano stomps the hell out of future Kikutaro (take that you unfunny motherfucker!) but Basara gets it worse as Goto piledrives him on the floor, ripping his mask open and bloodying him. Goto's awesome and unique use of foreign objects continues in this match as he grabs a broom, then breaks it in half and stabs Basara in the face with the wooden splinters. It's shit that happens in any lousy deathmatch but the way Goto does it makes it look like some horrific inventive abuse. The crowd actually gets into Basara as he absorbs a beatdown and he arguably has his finest moments ever in this match (not a high bar, but it's something), including landing a big diving headbutt that leaves a pool of blood on the other guys chest. Kikuzawa also busts out the fatboy moonsault and Goto makes uses of the ring bell guy's hammer which I am always a sucker for. Really good stuff, Goto always does the same shit, but he can do no wrong in this formular and the WDF guys were perfect foils as usual.
Tarzan Goto vs. Battle Ranger, FMW 7/31/1994 - EPIC
Really great match which was way better than a Battle Ranger match had any right to be. To be fair, Ranger brings it hard, as hard as you need when you are fighting Tarzan Goto. Ranger goes right at Goto throwing hard palm strikes. Goto goes to par terre and challenges the Ranger to grapple him which rules, but Ranger throws a stiff kick at his shoulder instead. It's an awesome beginning to a match and it leads to Tarzan in turn levelling an epic gruesome beating on the Ranger, as he rips his mask open, bloodies him and kicks him around, all the while Tarzan was surprisingly great at eating Rangers surprise high spots. Battle Ranger was hitting hard and getting punched in the face, selling big, taking big bumps and getting tables chucked at his head, clearly having the night of his life. The fans got really into Battle Ranger too, after they initially saw him as having no chance, and Goto is really great in his psycho Tenryu role punching Ranger in the face and throwing great looking headbutts and lariats. It builds to a finish that feels extremely dramatic and violent even by FMW, they made it look as if getting your ass kicked was just as bad as getting blown up in a cage, and the stretcher job really underlines that. Fantastic Goto show against an inspiring opponent, and another case for Goto being so much more than just a gorehound.
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