SWS Fighting Party Beginning 1990 review 

 

October 18 (and 19), 1990.  

 

We’re in Yokohama, Japan. This wasn’t the first show SWS did, but it is the first one that got released. They ran a ‘preview’ event in September. It was taped and shown by TV Tokyo, but I can’t find it anywhere. They did a one-night tournament, won by former “Cobra” George Takano, beating Naoki Sano in the final. Genichiro Tenryu, the poster boy for SWS, tagged with Takashi Ishikawa in the semi-main against Isao Takagi & Yoshiaki Yatsu. It’s pretty clear they got their heavies from AJPW and their juniors from NJPW. For this show we have another tournament, this one for the vacant SWS Tag Team Championship.  

 

Initial gaijin imports were limited for financial reasons, so this tour featured the likes of Stampede’s Jeff Wheeler, Dino Ventura, Jerry Morrow and Snake Williams. They must have cut a deal with Stu Hart to get them on group discount. Attendance here would have been enough to pay for better talent as we have 14,800 in the stands. What does SWS stand for anyway, I hear you ask?  

 

Yeah. Super World of Sports. This is a wild ride. For starters, the reason why Tenryu was first to jump and no one else followed until later in the year, was that Megane Super (a spectacles company) had initially hired him just to be a spokesperson. Then decided to take advantage of his pro-wrestling skills to start a promotion. They soon stole various talent from All and New Japan before siding with the WWF in Japan, in an attempt to use Vince McMahon’s stars and reach to take over the Japanese market. They could not have picked a worse time to do so, as McMahon was undergoing personal and professional upheaval and already had his eggs in too many baskets. SWS would reach for the stars and fall on their face, closing the doors in June 1992. A run measured in months, not years.  

 

 

We have four commentators and fireworks. Just so you know this is a BIG DEAL. Everyone is introduced and some wrestlers have taken the gladiatorial aspect of the show a little too seriously. They seem to be divided into factions, based on what company they’ve come from. The NJPW guys in blue jackets, the AJPW guys in red jackets. Then there’s Revolution, Tenryu’s stable, which wears black and yellow.  

 

 

Genichiro Tenryu & Great Kabuki vs. Bob Orton & Jeff Jarrett 

There’s a timer on the corner of the screen! We are in the Superest World of Sports. I love it. Jarrett is young but his basics are rock solid. He’s learned the Memphis way. You can’t see any fucking air when you get one of those lads in there. The contact is palpable. Jeff does seem to have some communication issues with Tenryu but he’s already smooth and a ring general. It’s especially obvious when he’s in a team with Orton, who used to be what I thought of as a snug wrestler and Jarrett’s moves look better. 

 

Bob is only 39 years old here. Jarrett was 39 in 2006. Main eventing PPVs for TNA. Orton is effectively done as a top guy here.  

I know ‘wrestling is art’ is basically a joke but look how good the shots are in this company! This match is poor, but you have to save Tenryu’s legs for the main event. Tenryu spends about 90 seconds going at full tilt, which is him hitting spots and Orton struggling to bump them. Jarrett tags in to take the finish, Tenryu’s powerbomb, and Tenryu is going to the final. **½. Jarrett sections in this good = good. Orton sections = bad.  

 

Isao Takagi & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. George Takano & Shunji Takano 

Shunji Takano is very tall. That’s all you need to know about him. His billed height of 6’ 7” seems unlikely though. Takagi is super over here and everything he does gets a reaction. Even though it’s all very basic. Characters tend to get over more than moves. Even in Japan. Takagi is an enthusiastic, pudgy guy who the crowd can count along with. Yatsu is also popular but as with his latter AJPW days, he seems like he’s no longer interested in the game. 

 

Maybe he was just waiting to get enough cadre together to found his own splinter group. Something he actually did in 1993. Yes, Super Professional Wrestling Federation! George delivers a fiery but erratic performance. He’s all over the place. Takagi fights from underneath against him with George getting near falls and the referee almost counting him out in the ring. Rocket Launcher from the Takano’s gets Takagi beaten. Good performance from Takagi here but this went too long and wasn’t as good as the other semi.  

 

SWS Tag Team Championship 

Genichiro Tenryu & Great Kabuki vs. George & Shunji Takano 

Shunji looks fucking knackered before we even start. So, George starts and Kabuki beats the piss out of him. Kabuki can be a stiff son of a bitch when he wants to be. And you’d better believe that when Tenryu gets in there it’s not a break from the abuse. They switch between working leg holds and just beating poor George like the proverbial government mule. Shunji eventually gets a hot tag and he fucking kills Tenryu with a missile dropkick. It’s the kind of move you don’t bump. You get bumped.  

 

Kabuki immediately takes Shunji’s leg and we’re back to square one. Shunji didn’t start the match because his leg was heavily taped. The abuse he takes gives George a little break though. George comes back in by dropkicking Tenryu IN THE FACE. Like, IN THE FACE, man. Kabuki is such an asshole in this match. He’s great. The way he breaks up pins is fantastic. Tenryu is busy being a prick and doesn’t see Shunji sneak in to dropkick him. George takes advantage with a German suplex and Takanos win! Holy shit! This was two assholes dishing out a brutal beatdown and then losing. A great little story. ***½ 

 

October 19, 1990 

 

This is N2 with the tournament taking up N1. We’re getting the top four matches from this show. Sadly, no Samoan Swat Team or Samson Fuyuki. Oh wait, we do! They show the last minute of the match. Fuyuki has gained weight since I last saw him. Kitahara small packages one of the Samoans for the win.  

 

Naoki Sano vs. Jeff Jarrett 

JIP around 7 minutes in. Jarrett, again, looks good here. He does the basics while Sano jumps at him in reckless fashion. Jarrett catches Sano with the crucifix for the win and the crowd boo. Unlucky, slapnuts! This was real good but only three minutes of a ten-minute match so unrateable.  

 

Kendo Nagasaki & Goro Tsurumi vs. Takashi Ishikawa & Great Kabuki 

JIP at 16:30. SWS don’t believe in full matches if Tenryu isn’t wrestling. Kabuki carries over his jerkish behaviour from last night and they tease a big old donnybrook with him and Nagasaki. Kabuki slaps the piss out of him. Kabuki is getting booked strong in this promotion. Goro does a fine job of loudly selling while Kabuki kicks him in the leg. Ishikawa then slaps the Sharpshooter on for the submission. Only three minutes shown and Kabuki, in one weekend, has looked more badass than during the rest of his career combined. 

 

Bob Orton Jr & Jerry Morrow vs. Isao Takagi & Yoshiaki Yatsu 

JIP at 13:00. Yatsu looks way more fired up than yesterday. Maybe he’s only happy when he’s winning. He plants Morrow with a backdrop driver for the pin. Nothing doing here. 

 

Genichiro Tenryu vs. George Takano 

So, Tenryu is all “sure, I’ll put George over but I’m getting that win back IMMEDIATELY brother”. This feels like a proper struggle. We have George going after a sleeper and Tenryu fighting it, pulling them both to the mat and then rolling ouside. They do this with everything. It’s great. It feels like a shootstyle match but with pro-wrestling pacing. And Tenryu wailing on George with chops. 

 

“We never do compromise” says the Exciting Announcer. Just as I’m about to complain about the match going off the boil, Takano attempts a pescado and Tenryu simply walks away from it. SPLAT. Takano sells the ribs and Tenryu, dickhead that he is, starts working the midsection. The match becomes Tenryu’s vicious body part attacks versus Takano’s sneaky roll ups. I would strongly question Takano doing a splash off the ropes, but the next move is Tenryu just KILLING him with a powerbomb.  

I keep writing the match off and it keeps finding the gear it needs. There’s like FOUR dives in the match. Which is a crazy amount for a 1990 main event. As you can see the crowd is very into this. It does get untidy and any attempt at a spin kick or a roundhouse is rubbish. They do a collapsed German, and I can’t tell if Takano is selling or whether he just fucked it. Tenryu then hurts his own ankle hitting too many Enzuigiris. As with dipshit Takano, he can’t lay off the Enzuigiris. Powerbomb finishes for Tenryu and both guys drop with injuries.  

 

This was pretty badass. The injuries, the body part work, the risk taking, the big spots and especially the stiff strikes. This all adds up to a great match. The only concern is how untidy it got but that almost added to it? ***¾. Could SWS put Tenryu back in wrestler of the year contention?  

 

The 411: 

 

It’s an odd tape, clipping most of the matches and leaving only three full matches intact from two nights of wrestling. It’s a good start for SWS. It’s a promotion I’ve never watched but it does feel like an All Japan spin off. Some nice meaty striking here, combined with crazy dives. I had fun!