Going through Shodates Best Matches of the 90s List Part 4

 The List

 

222. Gary Albright & Dan Severn vs. Salman Hashimikov & Vladimir Berkovich, UWFi 12/5/1993

 Pretty much the pro wrestling equivalent of a monster truck show. 4 grizzly dudes built like fridges running at each other and going for wild throws in front of a crazy hot crowd. Severns aggression was beastly here, he was making these Russians really eat his hands, gotta appreciate him trusting that nobody will take offense. Albright did his thing - that is, deadlift suplexing dudes like they weighed 20 pounds. The crowd reaction to him hitting the deadlift german on Hashimikov and then teasing the full nelson suplex was intense. Berkovich seemed to be getting eaten alive early on - lots of grinding face-down matwork ensueing after throws - and the crowd reaction indicated the fans thought of him as a joker, so him snapping and beating down Severn was memorable. And Hashimikov is just about the most unfuckwithable greco roman throw machine you've ever seen. Badass stuff, this kind of money mark 90s shootstyle grandeur "hire a bunch of world champs with no pro wrestling experience and throw them in a big arena" booking was the best.

215. Mark Fleming & Tatsuo Nakano vs. Kiyoshi Tamura & Shigeo Miyato, UWFi 7/28/1992

Really great cutting edge shootstyle tag. Fleming is this burly Lou Thesz trainee and pretty much a beastly dude with real technical skill. He is a great matchup for Tamura to test himself against, and the plucky Miyato. Nakano as usual brings his special brand of aggression to the match, and whenever he comes in to slap someone in the mouth he really elevates things to a different level. Some absolutely gnarly suplexes are thrown, and the brief moment where and Tamura go at eachother with Tamura pouncing on him like a python and daring Nakano to hit him was awesome. Great finish too with Fleming looking a beast prying dudes apart with his carny special hold. This is why I track all these down.

Koki Kitahara Documentation Project #8

 Koki Kitahara vs. Koji Kitao, Kitao Pro 1/21/1994 - GREAT

Kitao Pro was this unique fed that was stylized like a martial arts movie tournament with matches usually going no longer than 5 minutes, and Koji Kitao would always destroy all comers quickly. It's quintessential weird 90s shootstyle crap. For some reason Kitao liked Kitahara enough to always give him some offense, and this was a really fun 4 minutes of tubby martial artists pummeling each other with Kitao even taking one of the craziest bumps I've ever seen as he gets dropped on his head by a Kitahara suplex. He 

Koki Kitahara vs. 150% Machine, UWFi 6/26/1996 - FUN

Supposedly 150% Machine is KAMIKAZE, but he looks to skinny for that. I read somewhere that this match turned into a shoot. I have no idea if that is the case, because Kitahara always works so stiff and like such an uncooperative dick that you really can’t tell. Here, after smothering Machine on the mat a bit, apparently he didn’t like Machines lack of technical skill, so Kitahara decides to just blast him with kicks to the face from left and right. Machine fights back a little and is actually able to clock Kitahara with some good looking high kicks, but Kitahara always pulls himself back up and goes back to trashing the poor guy. The finish is just about the nastiest open hand blow in wrestling history.

Koki Kitahara & Lance Storm & Nobutaka Araya vs Koji Kitao & Nobukazu Hirai & Tommy Dreamer, WAR 6/7/1997 - FUN

Well, this is about as random a WAR matchup as they can get, huh? And this was a pretty fun match. Everyone brought their stuff to the match. So you had Kitao and Kitahara stiffing each other, Araya and Hirai working stiff tubby guy exchanges, Dreamer bringing weapons into the mix, and Lance Storm having his rat tail. I am amused that Kitahara continues to be one of the few people Kitao will bump and sell for (minimally, mind you) and he and Storm even get to take Kitao out with a double team move. The ending is just Kitahara kicking Hirai in the face and Hirai eating a nasty doomsday device and that’s about all you can ask for.

 

KOKI KITAHARA DOCUMENTATION PROJECT MASTER LIST

Koki Kitahara Documentation #5

 Koki Kitahara & Shinichi Nakano vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Ishinriki, SWS 4/18/1992 - GREAT

SWS style tag with Fujiwara thrown in the mix. So you have tubby juniors exchanging brutal spin kicks and lariats at a fast pace and Fujiwara throwing in some lightning fast counters and hitting the mat. The 3 young guys are really good and Fujiwaras presence adds just what this kind of undercard match needs. Ishinriki is a former sumo who works like a junior and junior who used to be a sumo is much better than junior who used to be a gymnast. He hits some big dive and also nice palm rushes and lariats. Kitahara and Nakano look good hitting the mat with Fujiwara. Highlights include Fujiwara hitting a huge Bas Rutten style body punch for a near KO aswell as trading some brutal battering ram headbutts with Nakano. Fujiwara fits really well with these energetic dudes. Apparently this match got **** from Meltzer proving he had some taste at one point. It has a few big moves and nearfalls too. 

 Koki Kitahara vs. Shinichi Nakano, WAR 5/26/1996 - GREAT

 These two are like the ultimate pair of 90s outlaw sleazebags, so I'm pretty salty about this being clipped. Still, we get a quite great pissed off 6 minute match here. Nakano comes in with a bandaged shoulder and Kitahara is such a spectacular asshole just tearing him up. Really kicking the piss out of him with stomps and kicks that don't feel held back at all. Nakanos selling is great and when he comes back he comes back like a house of fire throwing the greatest punches you've ever seen, maybe because he was trying to punch Kitaharas jaw out legit (a Shinichi Nakano documentation project may be in order). Gritty, simplistic finishing sequence built around Kitahara catching Nakano in nastier and nastier submissions. This was the stuff.

Koki Kitahara vs. Akitoshi Saito, NJPW 2/5/1993 - GREAT

You look at this match up and you go „Well, these are two guys who are not afraid to kick somebody in the face“. And that's what happens in this match. It's also NJPW vs. WAR (or Seishinkaikan vs. WAR?), so it had the kinda heat those matches have. These guys were just crushing eachother, Saito was hitting some really devastating mid kicks aswell as knees to face, and Kitahara in return kicked him in his face and bald head a bunch. Kitahara pouncing on Saito with mount punches, leaving Saito to come out with a big red spot of blood on his bald head is something that only happens in 93. The referee blew the finish a little on this one but for two mean asskickers stepping up and kicking the shit out of eachother this delivered.

Koki Kitahara vs. Tatsuo Nakano, UWFi 5/27/1996 - GREAT

Pudgy mulleted japanese dudes beat the fuck out of each other for your entertainment. Tatsuo Nakano is just the master of this kind of brutal under 10 minutes brawl, and Kitahara is Kitahara. Starts out with a pretty intense scramble to the outside. Nakano of course gets a bloody nose, hard to see where, so he gets up and fucking breaks Kitaharas nose with a knee of his own. I was surprised he may have out-stiffed Kitahara in this one. Kitahara does throw one absolutely disgusting leg kick though which Nakano sold accordingly great. Short and intense but you already knew that.

KOKI KITAHARA DOCUMENTATION PROJECT MASTER LIST