FMW Battle Brave in Korakuen (2.12.90) review 

 

February 12, 1990 

 

We’re in Tokyo, Japan at Korakuen Hall as the show name suggests. Compared to the last FMW show, which was a full one-night tournament with a bunch of matches on it, this one should be straightforward. Only three matches made tape, which is probably a bonus when the other matches just had guys like “Shooter #1” and “Shooter #2” involved. It promises to be an evening of barbed wire, martial arts and LUCHA LIBRE! Atsushi Onita knows how to show you a good time. 

 

We open with some shots of fans entering and I swear I recognise a few of them from the last FMW show.  

 

Rey Mysterio vs. Konnan the Great 

So, it’s not what you think. Rey Mysterio Jr, the more famous of the two, is still two years away from his in-ring debut. This is Rey Senior. I’ve seen him wrestle before and he doesn’t do much to stand out. Konnan is the same one you’re thinking of. He went by Konnan el Barbaro around the time, but he’s announced as “Konnan the Great” so we’re going with that. 

 

It may shock you to learn that Konnan’s mat work is sloppy as fuck and the crowd laugh at him for it. He tries to make up a hold and looks so lost I actually feel bad for him. The crowd continue to chuckle. If you told me, at the time, he’d go on to a 30-year career with five years of it in WCW, I would have laughed too. The crowd get invested when the leapfrogs and such kick in.  

 

Honestly though, 90% of Konnan’s work here is embarrassing. It’s incredibly bad. Rey tries to carry him through it, but Konnan has his own ideas, which isn’t good when your ideas are garbage.  

 

It’s so weird hearing Japanese fans heckling the wrestlers. Also, they’re bloodthirsty for dives and both guys repeatedly tease a dive all match. JUST DO A DIVE! The heckling continues, unabated, and after each derisive yell there’s a ripple of laughter. FMW is the Progress of 90s wrestling.  

 

Konnan finally does a dive, which misses completely, and he takes a header straight into the floor. The crowd seem happy enough with this turn of events. Rey then goes up to dive too and he also misses. Hahaha. None of this is on purpose. It’s just garbage. Konnan fiddles around with another ugly submission hold and that finishes.  

 

This was a big fat DUD, but the crowd treated it like a comedy match, so it gets a pass. Konnan was so bad here, he shouldn’t have been in front of a crowd. Increasingly wrestlers will get through the gaps in the 1990s and get to work despite being a load of shit. Botches will become far more commonplace and Maffew will make a living from it.  

  

Lee Gak Soo vs. Fumihiro Asako 

Lee wowed the crowd earlier in the year with his crazy Bruce Lee high spots but today he goes one step futher. A martial arts demonstration!  

It takes him like six attempts to get through this son of a bitch, but he does it. Sambo Asako is this 300lb Japanese guy who I adore. This is a rematch from their January contest, which ruled. To up the ante, this is under a British style rounds system and is HAIR VS HAIR.  

 

R1. The crowd adore Lee, and this looks like a scene from a Bruce Lee movie, until he falls over attempting a high kick. Enter the Dumbass. Asako does this thing when he sells where he screams “AAARGH” and the crowd scream along with him. It’s adorable. The “Iron” Mike Sharpe of Japan. Asako finally manages a throw and the bell rings immediately. We’ll call this round for Lee. 10-9.  

 

R2. Asako starts the round better but is soon kicked, a lot. AARGH! The sound effects mix of Lee’s Bruce Lee noises and Asako’s screaming is excellent. It does answer my “why wasn’t Lee Gak Soo a big star” question though. The act is less great at the second time of asking. Asako gets a knockdown and the round ends. The bell keeps saving Lee! This was 10-9 Asako, just. Lee won R1 by more. 

 

R3. Lee kicks Asako in the head as the first move of the round. AAARGH. Asako looks very tired already. Poor guy. Lee has movie muscles and a six-pack. Asako has sumo muscles and a beer gut. He looks exactly like the kind of guy I always wanted to see kick Bruce Lee’s ass. More head kicks. AAARGH! This time the bell saves Asako. 10-9 Lee. 

 

R4. Asako has started moving around like your grandad on his way to the toilet. He’s not happy about it but he has to take a piss. More kicks. AAARGH. Just leave him alone, what’s he ever done to you? Roundhouse to the heart. AAARGH. Dropkick. AAARGH. Asako looks like he’d enjoy a nap right now. More kicks. AAAARGH. Asako refuses to stay down but he looks like he’s had just about enough of this shit. More kicks. AAARGH. Asako gets a leglock but after it’s released Lee starts jogging around and more kicks happen. At least sell it, you miserable little prick. 10-9 Lee. Would have been 10-8 but for the near submission. 

 

R5. More kicks. AAAARGH. Dropkick. AAARGH. Asako just barely gets to his feet and THE SON OF A BITCH IS SMILING!! More kicks. AAARGH. Ok, this time he’s finished. This was a great time at the graps. The crowd loved Lee, but he was a right little knobhead. Asako spent most of the match slowly falling over backwards. ***¼. AAARGH! 

 

Barbed Wire Barricades Death Match 

Masanobu Kurisu vs. Atsushi Onita 

Kurisu won the big MMA tournament they ran in January and then he beat up Onita afterwards. Onita’s response is this monstrosity. Replacing the entire ringside area with barbed wire. The only thing separating the wrestlers from the crowd is barbed wire and lots of it.  

Kurisu is chopping even harder than usual, and he chops like a motherfucker under normal circumstances so that’s pretty gosh darn hard. As with the dives earlier, they tease a lot before delivering. Both the guys treat the floor like lava.  

Onita is naturally the first man to topple into it and the crowd is horrified. He has trouble extricating himself from it. AAARGH. Sorry, force of habit. The wire shreds Onita’s little white vest and he’s soon bleeding profusely. The camera gives us a sickening close up of how Onita’s chest has been scratched open. I won’t share it here but it’s just so raw and disgusting.  

They both end up in it and people are losing their minds at this spectacle. There’s no real match to speak of but people are glued to the ring. They have all that barbed wire and Kurisu blades from hitting the ring post. To save himself from the wire, Onita headbutts Kurisu back into the ring. They’re doing a great job of selling the wire here. Back inside Onita hits his finisher, twice, for the win.  

 

This was more of an event than a wrestling match. They could have done more work in the ring but instead focused on selling the importance of the wire. Unlike more modern shows, nobody even took a bump into it. They just fell into it out of the ring. It’s an interesting curio, for sure, and a completely different match to any you’ll see involving wire nowadays.  

 

The 411: 

It’s incredible watching Onita’s mind at work. He throws a bunch of random shit at the wall to see what works and, credit to him, does it again when it works. Like Lee vs Asako, which worked in January and worked again here. It’ll be interesting to see how the promotion develops. Nothing has exploded. Yet. 

 

BONUS: 

 

Seeing as this was only three matches, I’m also doing my February 1990 wrap up (which is just two matches anyway) in here. So, enjoy! 

 

February 17, 1990 (Taped: February 15, 1990) 

 

Brian Pillman vs. Ric Flair 

This is a non-title match that was on TBS. Seeing as it’s not on the Network, this is the unedited original version with Pillman coming out to “Rocket” by Def Leppard. JR compares Woman to Leona Helmsley, who was given 16 years in jail in 1989 for tax evasion. She famously said “we don’t pay taxes, only little people pay taxes”. She’s dead now. Paying taxes in hell, probably. 

 

Back in the match, Pillman knows this is a huge match for him, so he goes balls out. The crowd responds and the reactions are wonderful. There’s screaming people out here, loving every moment. Flair oversells for him, in cartoonish fashion. Every time we look at the crowd here it’s full of young women. What happened to all the little old ladies?  

 

This is one of those rare matches where Pillman needed to slow it down a little bit. The chops and assorted other strikes are too quick. Nothing has time to breathe. Woman, at ringside, fucks up her interference again. She’s supposed to slap Pillman, but she misses, twice. Pillman recovers from this, gets a high crossbody and Flair rolls through it with a handful of tights to win.  

 

No title on the line here but this was a fine demonstration of how great Pillman was and what a waste of time it was having him team with Zero-Man Tom Zenk. The match loses points for a) being messy and b) Woman, but Pillman deserved better than the lack of push he got after this. ***½  

 

February 18, 1990 (Taped February 7, 1990) 

 

Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs. Rock n’ Roll Express  

RnR’s came out to “Your Mama Don’t Dance” by Poison. I wish all the music was left intact on the Network but understand why it’s not. Arn gets beaten from pillar to post and looks like some kind of god in the early going. It’s frustrating to me that Arn was always so good but just spent his entire career in someone else’s shadow. Great promo, great worker, never got the big push he deserved.  

 

The way Flair and Arn bump around for the RnR is fantastic and the crowd eat it all up. Flair’s one bump, out of the ring and then over the rail, freaks the ringside fans out. Comms refer to the RnR as “young fellas”. Haha. Maybe from your perspective mate. To be fair, Morton is only 33 at this point but in my head he’s 40+ and always has been.  

 

Both teams do a great job of selling, positioning and teamwork. All four guys are terrific bumpers too, so the match is clean and clinical throughout. Arn’s prevention of the hot tag from Morton is fascinating. Arn can do more with ring positioning and a good left hand than most workers can with their entire repertoire. Horsemen hot shot Morton for the pin, even though his foot was on the ropes. Flair pushed it back off. NO HOT TAG AT ALL. That’s how you stop the Rock n’ Roll Express, baby. **** 

 

NEXT: When I’m back from Germany, it’ll be yet more AJPW TV. I’m doing an entire month of it. And after that…it’s a promotion I’ve never watched before. I’ve never, ever, seen a review for them, ever. And they’re a precursor to one of the most iconic promotions of all time. Join me in a leap into the unknown (after some All Japan TV).