I've seen a lot of Inokiism stuff, some of it it good, some of it is
weird, inexplicable and beyond ratings, I fully expected this to be
chaotic and unconventional but the match ended up being absolutely
amazing as well. The first thing that came to mind with the length is
the Ikeda-Ono match, but this one is just better and I don't think it's
close even. Saying this would be hailed as a MOTYC by the crew that
pimps Futen and Battlarts if it had happened that would almost be
instinctive but also undermine everything this match was. It was more
than that. It was a pastiche of the Futen violence, the morality, stable
wars and art of the no finish (best showcased in the 80s wrestling
everyone loves so much) and real life politics blurring the line between
reality and pre-determination. If you haven't seen it I urge you to
watch the match with an open mind. If you have, I'd urge you to rewatch
it since 2002 was a long time ago, you're distanced from the impact of
the match on the business side of things now, and also your taste has
probably changed, I don't think I've seen a single person talk about
this *match* since I started discussing prowres online, so it's not
exactly like it's been mandatory watching for now. The rest of the
review includes spoilers and I think it's better to watch it without
reading them, but suit yourself.
When Kensuke knocked Ogawa in the beginning of the match it was not only
a wonderful moment of violence, but also incredibly symbolic. We had
seen Ogawa in positions of peril-but it was the first time someone had
done something so shocking and so direct as to just smack him and start
mounting on him. It was a true moment of peril-one after which it only
made sense his stablemates would run into the ring. That and it was
before the bell making it illegal. The next couple of minutes are as
tense as any match I've ever seen, and really sophisitcated and
simulatenously barbaric. The violence of a takedown, a throw, a punch
and a kick are all well known, but displaying that well in a worked
environment can be tricky and they absolutely nailed it. I remember
hearing Jim Cornette saying something about how a criteria for a perfect
match included everyone believing it was real-which sounded silly
coming from him-but I don't think there's a match that's as good at that
as this one that didn't turn into a real fight. And when Ogawa started
shoot kicking Kensuke you even start questioning that-the images of the
1999 incident are just too visceral to ever be forgotten. But here
Kensuke recovers, and goes after Ogawa, and hits him and throws him and
makes him retreat, which is analogous to a count out victory over Andre,
even if the scoreboard may have had it as a no contest. ****1/2
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