{"id":4635,"date":"2014-02-08T00:06:03","date_gmt":"2014-02-08T05:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/?p=4635"},"modified":"2014-02-09T23:09:04","modified_gmt":"2014-02-10T04:09:04","slug":"fighting-spirit-review-new-japan-fantastica-mania-on-11914","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/reviews\/fighting-spirit-review-new-japan-fantastica-mania-on-11914\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting Spirit Review: New Japan \u201cFANTASTICA MANIA\u201d on 1\/19\/14"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Date: January 19th, 2014
\n<\/strong>Location: Tokyo Korakuen Hall
\nAnnounced Attendance: 1,900 (Super No Vacancy)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Now we are at the final card of the New Japan\/CMLL joint tour. This has pretty much the same wrestlers as the last event I reviewed, but they are paired up differently to give new match-ups. Here is the full card:<\/p>\n

– M\u00e1scara Don and Maximo vs. TAKA Michinoku and Taichi
\n– OKUMURA and YOSHI-HASHI vs. Stuka Jr. and Rey Cometa
\n– Tiger Mask, Titan, Fuego, El Desperado, and BUSHIROAD vs. Yano, Jado, Gedo, Niebla Roja, and Vangelis
\n– Tetsuya Naito and Rush vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Rey Escorpi\u00f3n
\n– La Sombra vs. Ultimo Guerrero
\n– Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, and Mistico vs. Nakamura, Yujiro Takahashi, and Mephisto
\n– NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship: Volador Jr. vs. M\u00e1scara Dorada<\/strong><\/p>\n

M\u00e1scara Don and Maximo vs. TAKA Michinoku and Taichi<\/strong><\/h4>\n

<\/strong>Taichi and Maximo start things off.\u00a0 Maximo corners Taichi to start the match but Taichi wants no part of it so Maximo pops him on the ass.\u00a0 Taichi comes out of the corner and kicks Maximo, Irish whip by Maximo but Taichi shoulderblocks him down.\u00a0 Armdrag by Maximo but Taichi gives Maximo an armdrag of his own.\u00a0 Maximo goes off the ropes and hits an armdrag, he then hits a hurricanrana and Taichi rolls out of the ring.\u00a0 Maximo gets a running start in the ring but rolls himself back in instead of doing a dive.\u00a0 M\u00e1scara Don and Michinoku come in the ring, kick to the stomach by M\u00e1scara Don, snapmare, Michinoku tries a few shoulderblocks which don\u2019t work so he hits an eye poke.\u00a0 Michinoku goes off the ropes but M\u00e1scara Don shoulderblocks him down and Michinoku falls out of the ring.\u00a0 M\u00e1scara Don bounces off the ropes like he is going to do a dive but Taichi pulls him out of the ring.<\/p>\n

Taichi throws M\u00e1scara Don into the rail at ringside and chokes him with the ring bell mallet.\u00a0 In the ring Michinoku puts Maximo into the corner, Taichi comes back in the ring and digs into Maximo\u2019s head with the mallet.\u00a0 Michinoku kicks Maximo and they choke him with their boots.\u00a0 Michinoku drags Maximo out of the corner and drives his foot into Maximo\u2019s groin.\u00a0 Michinoku picks up Maximo, double Irish whip and they hit a double big boot.\u00a0 Maximo rolls out of the ring so M\u00e1scara Don comes in, snapmare by Taichi to M\u00e1scara Don and he goes for the mask.\u00a0 He gets the mask half off but M\u00e1scara Don gets him off, Taichi picks up M\u00e1scara Don and throws him into the corner.\u00a0 Irish whip, Taichi hits a lariat and Michinoku following with a knee.<\/p>\n

Taichi knees M\u00e1scara Don in the groin, cover, and Michinoku counts a quick three which of course doesn\u2019t count.\u00a0 M\u00e1scara Don rolls out of the ring so Maximo gets back in the ring, and Michinoku applies the testicular claw in the corner.\u00a0 Snapmare by Michinoku and he re-applies the hold while the referee is distracted.\u00a0 Cover by Michinoku but Maximo gets a shoulder up.\u00a0 Michinoku picks up Maximo and they throw him in the corner, double Irish whip, but Maximo avoids the Michinoku charge and elbows Taichi.\u00a0 Maximo hits a lariat to Michinoku and then a dropkick to Taichi, which sends Taichi out of the ring.\u00a0 Maximo then sails out onto Taichi with a tope suicida.\u00a0 Michinoku gets a running start in the ring and jumps out onto Maximo with a pescado.<\/p>\n

Taichi gets back in the ring, he goes for an Asai Moonsault but M\u00e1scara Don knocks him off the apron to the floor.\u00a0 M\u00e1scara Don then goes up to the second turnbuckle and jumps down onto all three of them, plus two random dojo boys just to help catch him.\u00a0 I really don\u2019t think Nakanishi has ever done that move before, it was not graceful but I don\u2019t think it was supposed to be.\u00a0 Back in the ring M\u00e1scara Don chops Taichi, Irish whip, but Taichi grabs M\u00e1scara Don\u2019s mask and delivers an elbow.\u00a0 Taichi goes off the ropes but M\u00e1scara Don catches\u00a0 him in a reverse Argentine Backbreaker, but Michinoku breaks it up.\u00a0 M\u00e1scara Don goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a double missile dropkick onto Taichi and Michinoku, and Nakanishi has officially lost his mind.\u00a0 M\u00e1scara Don waits for Michinoku to get up and hits a lariat, cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 M\u00e1scara Don hits an armdrag onto Michinoku, waistlock by Michinoku but M\u00e1scara Don reverses it.\u00a0 He holds Michinoku while Maximo comes into the ring, and Maximo gives Michinoku a kiss.\u00a0 M\u00e1scara Don applies the Don de Mariposa to Michinoku and he submits!\u00a0 Your winners:\u00a0 M\u00e1scara Don and Maximo<\/p>\n

Match Thoughts:\u00a0<\/strong>Ok so it wasn\u2019t a good match, but seeing Nakanishi trying to do lucha spots was quiet amusing.\u00a0 And of course we were in on the joke so it\u2019s not laughing at someone that isn\u2019t good, it is laughing at a 47 year old wrestler doing moves he either has never done before or hasn\u2019t done in a long time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Beyond that though there really wasn\u2019t much to the match, but at least it did have a special attraction.\u00a0\u00a0Score:\u00a0 5.5<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

OKUMURA and YOSHI-HASHI vs. Stuka Jr. and Rey Cometa<\/strong><\/h4>\n

<\/strong>OKUMURA and YOSHI-HASHI immediately attack their opponents but they are quickly kicked out of the ring.\u00a0 Stuka Jr. and Cometa then get up on the top turnbuckle and hit stereo moonsaults down onto Stuka Jr. and Cometa.\u00a0 Stuka Jr. gets back in the ring as does OKUMURA, OKUMURA avoids an Stuka Jr. dropkick, Irish whip, Stuka Jr. flips off the ropes and dropkicks OKUMURA out of the ring.\u00a0 Stuka Jr. gets a running start to dive out of the ring but YOSHI-HASHI cuts him off with a lariat.\u00a0 Stomp by YOSHI-HASHI, he picks up Stuka Jr. and elbows him in the back.\u00a0 Chop by YOSHI-HASHI, Irish whip, but Cometa is in the ring and he back bodydrops Stuka Jr. to the apron before kicking the charging YOSHI-HASHI.\u00a0 Cometa goes off the ropes, they go back and forth but Cometa hits the handstand springboard into a spinning headscissors.\u00a0 YOSHI-HASHI goes off the ropes but Cometa flips him to the mat, cover but OKUMURA breaks it up.\u00a0 OKUMURA picks up Cometa but Cometa hits a chop, he goes off the ropes but OKUMURA hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.<\/p>\n

OKUMURA picks up Cometa, Irish whip to the corner, OKUMURA drops Cometa on the apron but Cometa chops him and hits a top rope diving hurricanrana.\u00a0 OKUMURA falls out of the ring, Cometa goes on the apron and hits another diving hurricanrana.\u00a0 Mima Shimoda (who was with OKUMURA) charges Cometa but he gives her a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.\u00a0 Back in the ring, YOSHI-HASHI goes off the ropes but Stuka Jr. catches him with a dropkick.\u00a0 Stuka Jr. goes off the ropes but OKUMURA intercepts him with a lariat.\u00a0 OKUMURA picks up Stuka Jr., Irish whip to the corner, Stuka Jr. drops OKUMURA on the apron and then knocks him off.\u00a0 Stuka Jr. goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a plancha suicida down to the floor.\u00a0 YOSHI-HASHI and Cometa get in the ring, but YOSHI-HASHI slides out and Cometa hits him with a tornillo plancha suicida.\u00a0 Stuka Jr. and OKUMURA are in the ring again, Stuka Jr. slams OKUMURA to the mat, then Shimoda comes in the ring and he suplexes her onto OKUMURA.\u00a0 Stuka Jr. sets up Shimoda lying next to OKUMURA and hits a diving body press onto both of them, cover, and he gets the three count.\u00a0 Your winners:\u00a0 Stuka Jr. and Rey Cometa<\/p>\n

Match Thoughts:<\/strong>\u00a0 Really short match here as it clocked in at less than five minutes, so they pretty much went straight for the bombs even if it didn\u2019t make any sense at the moment.\u00a0 I guess when you are putting on a display of big moves and are on a time constraint you don\u2019t really have much of a choice.\u00a0 And don\u2019t feel bad about the woman getting thrown around, she is a wrestler too.\u00a0\u00a0Score:\u00a0 3.5<\/span><\/p>\n

Tiger Mask, Titan, Fuego, El Desperado, and BUSHIROAD vs. Yano, Jado, Gedo, Niebla, and Vangelis<\/strong><\/h4>\n

<\/strong>Yano throws his water at his opponents before the bell rings and it\u2019s on, as all the wrestlers begin brawling with each other.\u00a0 It\u2019s a melee, y\u2019all.\u00a0 They go outside of the ring except for Niebla and Titan, as Niebla tries to take off Titan\u2019s mask.\u00a0 The other wrestlers slowly make it back to ringside so we can pretend this is a normal tag team match.\u00a0 Niebla hits Titan with his jacket but soon they are fighting at ringside again.\u00a0 Jado and Titan end up in the ring, and Jado chops Titan into the corner.\u00a0 Jado goes for a lariat but Titan ducks it, rebounds out of the corner, Jado drops him onto the apron but Titan knocks him back and hits a swandive crossbody.\u00a0 Enzigieri by Titan to Jado, and Jado flops to the mat before rolling out of the ring.\u00a0 Titan tags in Fuego while Gedo is tagged in, and Gedo kicks Fuego to the mat.<\/p>\n

Fuego is back up and does a dance, Fuego goes off the ropes and he hits a rebound armdrag.\u00a0 Gedo falls out of the ring.\u00a0 Fuego goes to do a dive but flips himself back in the ring, but he is attacked from behind by Vangelis.\u00a0Niebla comes in the ring as well and they double team Fuego, ending with a spear by Vangelis.\u00a0 Fuego rolls out so Tiger Mask comes in the ring, and both Niebla and Vangelis hit running attacks in the corner.\u00a0 Cover by Vangelis, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 Gedo comes in the ring, and he holds Tiger Mask so that Jado can chop him.\u00a0 Jado and Gedo trade shots on Tiger Mask, and they punch him in the corner.\u00a0 Double Irish whip to Tiger Mask and Jado and Niebla hit a big boot.\u00a0 Tiger Mask rolls out and BUSHIROAD comes in, BUSHIROAD is Irish whipped in the corner and Niebla delivers a front flip kick.<\/p>\n

BUSHIROAD rolls out as El Desperado is brought in the ring, and Niebla chops him to the mat.\u00a0 Gedo rips at El Desperado\u2019s eyes and Yano throws El Desperado into the corner.\u00a0 Jado picks up El Desperado and throws him back to his corner, where the turnbuckle pad has been removed.\u00a0 They then pull El Desperado down and ram him into the ring post.\u00a0 He falls out of the ring as BUSHIROAD comes in to face off with Jado, kick by Jado and he hits a lariat.\u00a0 Cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 Jado picks up BUSHIROAD, Irish whip to the corner but BUSHIROAD kicks them both back.\u00a0 A brawl breaks out and all ten wrestlers get in the ring.\u00a0 The good guys apply a leg lock to Gedo and company in a circle in the middle of the ring, and El Desperado hits a hurricanrana on Yano in the middle of the circle.\u00a0 The referee counts but everyone gets their shoulders up at two.\u00a0 The ring mostly clears as Titan and Tiger Mask hit tope suicidas on Gedo and Jado.<\/p>\n

Niebla is in the ring with Vangelis, and Vangelis helps catapult Niebla out of the ring and onto BUSHI and Tiger Mask.\u00a0 Titan comes in the ring, Vangelis misses a heel kick and while he is down, Titan catapults off his back onto Niebla with a tope con giro.\u00a0 Fuego kicks Vangelis out of the ring and hits a springboard plancha suicida down onto him.\u00a0 Most the wrestlers meet at the point on the outside, then El Desperado sails out onto all of them with a tope con giro.\u00a0 El Desperado throws Vangelis back into the ring and gets back in as well, El Desperado grabs Vangelis and goes for a suplex, but Vangelis blocks it.\u00a0 El Desperado lands on his feet, he goes off the ropes but Vangelis hits a German suplex hold for a two count.\u00a0 While everyone else brawls at ringside, in the ring Vangelis goes off the ropes but El Desperado ducks the lariat and hits a Guitarra de la Muerta on Vangelis.\u00a0 Cover, and he picks up the three count.\u00a0 Your winners:\u00a0 Tiger Mask, Titan, Fuego, El Desperado, and BUSHIROAD<\/p>\n

Match Thoughts:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well that was clustertastic.\u00a0 I apologize if I mixed up anyone\u2019s name in there somewhere, there was a lot going on and BUSHI was wearing a different outfit than usual which kept confusing me.\u00a0 Anyway this match was what it was, I did like that El Desperado picked up the pinfall though and was given a few key moments in the match.\u00a0 If he is going to be a new star of New Japan (which I hope he will be) he needs the exposure.\u00a0 For a ten minute ten man match it was actually a bit slow at times, I am not a big fan of the sequence where there are multiple heels in the ring and the faces just come in one at a time to get beat up.\u00a0 No real opportunity for the wrestlers to do much here, and even though there were some good spots I am getting a bit immune to that after watching three of these shows in a row.\u00a0\u00a0Score:\u00a0 4.5<\/span><\/p>\n

Tetsuya Naito and Rush vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Rey Escorpi\u00f3n<\/strong><\/h4>\n

<\/strong>Rush and Escorpi\u00f3n start things off.\u00a0 They jockey for position, fireman\u2019s carry takeover by Rush but Escorpi\u00f3n hits a single leg takedown and backs off.\u00a0 Takedown by Rush, he picks up Escorpi\u00f3n and kicks him in the ribs before tagging in Naito.\u00a0 Naito elbows Escorpi\u00f3n in the arm and applies an arm wringer, but Escorpi\u00f3n reverses it.\u00a0 Punches to the arm by Escorpi\u00f3n and he tags in Ishii.\u00a0 Side headlock by Naito to Ishii and they collide with no result.\u00a0 Elbows by Naito and he goes off the ropes again but Ishii shoulderblocks him down.\u00a0 Ishii goes off the ropes but Naito hits an armdrag followed by a hiptoss and a dropkick.\u00a0 Naito punches Ishii into the corner but Ishii absorbs the blows.\u00a0 Ishii throws Naito in the corner and hits chops and elbows.\u00a0 Elbows by Naito as he knocks Ishii into the corner again\u00a0 but Ishii elbows him hard back.\u00a0 Ishii knocks Rush off the apron, Ishii picks up Naito with Escorpi\u00f3n and Escorpi\u00f3n chops Naito in the chest.<\/p>\n

Naito is chopped by both men against the ropes, Irish whip by Escorpi\u00f3n and he hits a lariat.\u00a0 Cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 Escorpi\u00f3n picks up Naito and applies a wristlock before tagging in Ishii.\u00a0 Ishii picks up Naito and hits an uppercut, headbutt by Ishii and he elbows Naito in the back of the head.\u00a0Chops by Ishii in the corner and he goes over to knock Rush off the apron.\u00a0 Escorpi\u00f3n and Ishii pick up Naito, double Irish whip to the corner but Naito ducks the Ishii lariat and hits a hurricanrana onto Escorpi\u00f3n.\u00a0 Enzigieri by Naito to Ishii and he hits a tilt-a-whirl DDT onto Escorpi\u00f3n.\u00a0 Naito makes the tag to Rush, stomp by Rush to Ishii and they trade chops.\u00a0 Headbutt by Ishii and he goes off the ropes, but Rush catches him with a dropkick.\u00a0 Ishii falls out of the ring so Escorpi\u00f3n comes into it, and they trade chops.\u00a0 Both men go off the ropes and they lariat each other, Rush goes off the ropes again and Rush hits a jumping lariat.<\/p>\n

Escorpi\u00f3n charges Rush but Rush catches him and hits an overhead belly to belly suplex over the top rope.\u00a0 Rush then gets a running start and flies out onto Escorpi\u00f3n with a tope suicida.\u00a0 In the ring, Ishii goes off the ropes but Naito delivers a dropkick.\u00a0 Naito waits for Ishii to get up in the corner and hits the slingshot dropkick.\u00a0 Naito goes on the apron and hits a swandive missile dropkick to Ishii.\u00a0 Naito picks up Ishii and kicks him in the chest, he goes for a tornado DDT but Ishii pushes him off and hits a powerslam.\u00a0 Ishii picks up Naito and puts him onto the top turnbuckle, Ishii joins him and hits a suplex from the second turnbuckle.\u00a0 Cover, but Naito barely gets a shoulder up.\u00a0 Ishii picks up Naito and hits an elbow, but Naito fires back with elbows and they trade strikes.\u00a0 Ishii gets the better of it, he goes off the ropes but Naito catches him with a back elbow.\u00a0 Lariat by Ishii, cover, but Naito barely gets a shoulder up.\u00a0 Ishii picks up Naito but Naito slides down his back and hits a tornado DDT.\u00a0 Naito headbutts Ishii and they trade strikes as they get up, Irish whip by Naito, reversed, and Naito hits a diving elbow smash.<\/p>\n

He rolls out of the ring as does Ishii, so Rush gets into the ring with Escorpi\u00f3n.\u00a0 Escorpi\u00f3n and Rush trade slaps, Rush goes off the ropes but Escorpi\u00f3n catches him with a lariat.\u00a0 Superkick by Rush and he hits a running dropkick in the corner.\u00a0 Rush drags Escorpi\u00f3n towards the middle of the ring, cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 Rush hits a double stomp, he then goes up to the top turnbuckle but Escorpi\u00f3n rolls out of the way of the senton.\u00a0 Now it is Escorpi\u00f3n that goes up top and he hits the diving leg drop, cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 Escorpi\u00f3n picks up Rush and goes for the package piledriver, but Rush gets out of it.\u00a0 Knees by Rush and he nails the Rush Driver.\u00a0 Cover, and he picks up the three count.\u00a0 Your winners:\u00a0 Tetsuya Naito and Rush<\/p>\n

Match Thoughts:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 I like that Ishii and Naito live in their own little vacuum and on all these shows are the ones much more interested in their own feud then interacting with the CMLL wrestlers.\u00a0 Not that I see that as a bad thing at all, it makes them both look focused on the bigger picture as they should be.\u00a0 This was pretty average all the way around, it picked up in parts but the beat down segments were a bit slow.\u00a0 Naito and Ishii showed good fire and Rush is exciting, but Escorpi\u00f3n doesn\u2019t do much for me.\u00a0 Not a bad match by any stretch, just nothing really memorable about it.\u00a0\u00a0Score:\u00a0 5.5<\/span><\/p>\n

La Sombra vs. Ultimo Guerrero<\/strong><\/h4>\n

<\/strong>They circle each other to start, Guerrero applies an armbar but La Sombra quickly gets out of it.\u00a0 Guerrero rolls out of the ring but returns after a moment, monkey flip by Guerrero but La Sombra tosses him off, they jockey for position and La Sombra hits an armdrag.\u00a0 They go into a Test of Strength, drop toehold by Guerrero, La Sombra gets up and hits an armdrag, and both men are back to their feet. Tie-up, snapmare by Guerrero but La Sombra gets his ankles around Guerrero\u2019s head.\u00a0 Guerrero gets out of it and applies the Mexican Surfboard.<\/p>\n

La Sombra gets out of it and applies a Mexican Surfboard of their own, both of their shoulders go down so they break the hold as the referee counts to three.\u00a0 Back up, single leg takedown by Guerrero and he applies a stretch hold to La Sombra, La Sombra gets out of that and applies a modified Indian Deathlock, but Guerrero gets to the ropes.\u00a0 Chop by Guerrero, Irish whip, but La Sombra kicks off of him and hits a headscissors.\u00a0 Guerrero falls out of the ring, La Sombra goes out to the apron and under-shoots a springboard inverted moonsault.\u00a0 Guerrero mostly caught him anyway.\u00a0 La Sombra throws Guerrero back into the ring and he hits a swandive crossbody, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 Irish whip by La Sombra to the corner, Guerrero drops him onto the apron, he then trips La Sombra and dropkicks him off the apron to the floor.\u00a0 Guerrero gets a running start in the ring and flies out onto Guerrero with a tope con giro.\u00a0 Both wrestlers get back in the ring, Irish whip by La Sombra to the corner and he hits a lariat.\u00a0 He then puts Guerrero on the top turnbuckle and hits a perfect Misteriorana.\u00a0 Cover, but Guerrero kicks out.<\/p>\n

La Sombra picks up Guerrero and throws him into the corner, hitting a few shoulder tackles.\u00a0 La Sombra puts Guerrero on the top turnbuckle and joins him, but Guerrero blocks the Frankensteiner attempt and powerbombs La Sombra to the mat.\u00a0 Cover by Guerrero, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 La Sombra lariats Guerrero into a seated position in the corner, he gets a running start and hits a running double knee.\u00a0 Cover by La Sombra, but it only gets two.\u00a0 La Sombra picks up Guerrero, Irish whip to the corner, Guerrero hops up on the top turnbuckle as La Sombra joins him, and Guerrero hits a front suplex over the second turnbuckle.\u00a0 Cover, but La Sombra gets a shoulder up.\u00a0 Irish whip by Guerrero from the corner but La Sombra moves when Guerrero charges in.\u00a0 La Sombra then gets up on the top turnbuckle and hits a moonsault from the top turnbuckle down to the floor.<\/p>\n

Back in the ring, La Sombra picks up Guerrero and slams him in front of the corner, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits the moonsault.\u00a0 Cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 Another slam by La Sombra, he goes to the ropes and goes for the quebrada, Guerrero rolls out of the way and then gets his knees up when La Sombra goes for a standing moonsault.\u00a0 Cover by Guerrero, but it gets two.\u00a0 Guerrero charges La Sombra in the corner but La Sombra moves and drops him with the Shadow Driver.\u00a0 Cover, and he picks up the three count.\u00a0 Your winner:\u00a0 La Sombra<\/p>\n

Match Thoughts:<\/strong>\u00a0 It started slow, but once it picked up it stayed there until the end of the match.\u00a0 I have no idea what type of dive La Sombra was going for on the first one that he undershot by about five feet but it was certainly unique, luckily no one got hurt or anything since wrestlers are impervious to the type of pain that you or I feel.\u00a0 Matches like this make me sad that wrestling on TV in the US isn\u2019t more diverse, it wasn\u2019t great but it was different.\u00a0 Not a lot of structure or reasoning to it, but the spots were good and nothing was offensive.\u00a0Score:\u00a0 6.5<\/span><\/p>\n

Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, and Mistico vs. Nakamura, Yujiro Takahashi, and Mephisto<\/strong><\/h4>\n

<\/strong>Tanahashi and Nakamura start things off.\u00a0 Tie-up, waistlock by Tanahashi but Nakamura applies an armbar and Tanahashi has to get into the ropes to force a break.\u00a0 Wristlock by Tanahashi and an Irish whip, and he hits an armdrag.\u00a0 Nakamura comes back with an armdrag of his own and both men are back up again, uppercut by Tanahashi but Nakamura ducks when Tanahashi charges him.\u00a0 Tanahashi skins the cat to get back in the ring, Irish whip by Nakamura, reversed, and Tanahashi hits a headscissors.\u00a0 Nakamura applies a headscissors of his own, Tanahashi gets out of it and both men are back up.\u00a0 Nakamura tags in Takahashi while Tanahashi tags in Ibushi.\u00a0 Kick by Takahashi to Ibushi but Ibushi kicks him back, Takahashi goes off the ropes and punches Ibushi in the face.\u00a0 Kicks by Takahashi, Irish whip, reversed, and Ibushi delivers a dropkick.<\/p>\n

Takahashi rolls out of the ring, Ibushi gets a running start but flips back in when Takahashi runs out of the way.\u00a0 Ibushi tags in Mistico so Mephisto comes in the ring, Mistico goes off the ropes and he hits an armdrag to Mephisto.\u00a0 Mistico goes off the ropes again and he hits a headscissors.\u00a0 Mephisto falls out of the ring, Mistico goes out to the apron and goes for a diving hurricanrana but Mephisto catches him and throws him into the ring post. Back in the ring, armdrag by Mephisto and he tags in Nakamura.\u00a0 Snapmare by Nakamura to Mistico and he hits a kneedrop.\u00a0 Takahashi comes in the ring too, double Irish whip to Mistico and all three men hit a big boot.\u00a0 Mistico falls out of the ring so Tanahashi comes in, he attacks Mephisto but Takahashi hits him from behind.<\/p>\n

Tanahashi is stomped in the corner, double Irish whip to Tanahashi and he gets a double elbow by Takahashi and Mephisto.\u00a0 Spinebuster by Nakamura and he kicks Tanahashi through the ropes down to the floor.\u00a0 Ibushi comes in the ring for some reason and Takahashi attacks him from behind.\u00a0 All three men stomp on Ibushi, Irish whip and Nakamura hits an assisted powerbomb.\u00a0 Cover, but Ibushi kicks out.\u00a0 Mistico comes back in, Mephisto Irish whip shim and throws Mistico up into the air.\u00a0 Nakamura kicks Mistico in the ribs, Mephisto picks up Mistico and Takahashi hits a boot to the midsection.\u00a0 Tanahashi rolls back in the ring as Mistico rolls out, Mephisto picks up Tanahashi and throws him into the corner.\u00a0 Irish whip to Tanahashi but Tanahashi avoids the Mephisto attack, ducks Takahashi\u2019s lariat and hits a dragon screw leg whip on Nakamura.\u00a0 Lariat by Takahashi to Tanahashi but Ibushi comes in the ring and he hits an overhead kick to Takahashi.<\/p>\n

Mephisto knocks down Ibushi but Mistico comes in the ring with a swandive hurricanrana.\u00a0 Mistico goes off the ropes but slides out of the ring, he then gets up on the top turnbuckle and hits a diving hurricanrana onto Mephisto.\u00a0 Ibushi and Nakamura are in the ring, and Nakamura kicks Ibushi into the corner.\u00a0 Knees by Nakamura, Nakamura gets a running start but Ibushi moves out of the way.\u00a0 Missile dropkick by Ibushi to Nakamura, he waits for Nakamura to get up and hits a kick combination.\u00a0 High kick by Ibushi, Nakamura ducks the PK but Ibushi hits a corkscrew standing moonsault for a two count.<\/p>\n

Ibushi picks up Nakamura, slams him in front of the corner, he goes up to the top turnbuckle but Takahashi grabs his leg and Nakamura kicks Ibushi.\u00a0 Nakamura then hits a running knee onto Ibushi in the corner followed by an inverted powerslam.\u00a0 Nakamura charges Ibushi but Ibushi snaps off a hurricanrana.\u00a0 Nakamura falls out of the ring, Ibushi runs up to the corner but Takahashi is there and kicks him off.\u00a0 Ibushi falls to the floor as Takahashi and Tanahashi get into the ring.\u00a0 Takahashi goes off the ropes and he catches Tanahashi with a powerslam, cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 Takahashi picks up Tanahashi, Tanahashi slaps him back but Takahashi hits a Stun Gun.\u00a0 Takahashi picks up Tanahashi but Tanahashi elbows out of it and hits the Sling Blade.\u00a0 Takahashi rolls out of the ring, and Tanahashi hits a pescado down onto him.\u00a0 Nakamura then hits a twisting pescado onto Tanahashi, but Ibushi goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a moonsault onto Nakamura.\u00a0 In the ring, Mistico hits a diving crossbody on Mephisto but it gets a two count.\u00a0 Mephisto picks up Mistico and chops him in the chest.\u00a0 Back up again, Irish whip by Mephisto but Mistico ducks the lariat and hits La Magistral!\u00a0 Mephisto quickly taps out.\u00a0 Your winners:\u00a0 Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, and Mistico<\/p>\n

Match Thoughts: \u00a0<\/strong>I am starting to notice a pattern, watching these shows virtually back to back.\u00a0 \u00a0As I know I have mentioned, the beatdown segments where a face wrestler rolls in, gets beat up by three men, rolls out, a new face wrestler rolls in, gets beat up, rolls out etc. etc. doesn\u2019t really do it for me as even in the world of wrestling it isn\u2019t logical.\u00a0 They would just go in together and certainly not follow the same pattern they did in a previous match.\u00a0 The match wasn\u2019t bad and the last few minutes were entertaining, it is just starting to get repetitive and there was nothing about it that set it apart from the other matches from this tour.\u00a0\u00a0Score:\u00a0 6.0<\/span><\/p>\n

(c) Volador Jr. vs. M\u00e1scara Dorada<\/strong><\/h4>\n

<\/strong>This match is for the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship.\u00a0\u00a0 They circle each other to start, waistlock by Volador Jr. and he takes mmm to the mat but mmm hits an armdrag.\u00a0 Another armdrag by mmm, Volador Jr. rolls back to him but mmm armdrags him to the mat.\u00a0 They jockey for position and trade trips, but neither man can get an advantage and they flip back to their feet.\u00a0 Dorada goes off the ropes and does some flips before hitting a headscissors.\u00a0 Volador Jr. falls out of the ring and Dorada sails out onto him with a tope suicida.\u00a0 Dorada rolls back into the ring, Volador Jr. gets on the apron and hits a swandive hurricanrana. Volador Jr. then goes off the ropes and hits Dorada with a tope con giro. So they are even now. Volador Jr. gets back into the ring first and Dorada slowly follows, Volador Jr. goes off the ropes, Volador Jr. flips off the ropes but Dorada gets Volador Jr. onto his shoulders. Volador Jr. hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors, which sends Dorada out of the ring.<\/p>\n

Volador Jr. then goes off the ropes and hits a tope suicida onto Dorada. Volador Jr. goes off the ropes again and goes for another tope suicida, but Dorada is long gone by then. Dorada gets back into the ring and hits a tope suicida out onto Volador Jr.. Volador Jr. returns to the ring, Dorada goes off the ropes but Volador Jr. dropkicks him in the back. Cover, but it gets a two count. Volador Jr. rolls out to the apron, he goes up to the top turnbuckle but Dorada dropkicks him as he jumps into the ring. Cover, but it gets a two as well. Volador Jr. goes off the ropes but Dorada picks him up and throws him outside the ring. Dorada then gets on the apron and hits an Asai Moonsault off of the top rope. Dorada gets back onto the apron and goes for another one, but Volador Jr. pulls him off. Volador Jr. then goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a moonsault down onto Dorada. Dorada gets back in the ring first with Volador Jr. quickly following, and Volador Jr. hits a Codebreaker. Cover, but it gets a two count.<\/p>\n

Dorada goes off the ropes and hits a rebound armdrag, Volador Jr. falls outside the ring, Dorada goes out after him and hit a hurricanrana out on the floor. Dorada then climbs up into the crown and dives off the stage with a hurricanrana onto Volador Jr.. Dorada tosses Volador Jr. back into the ring, Dorada gets onto the apron and goes for a swandive seated senton, but Volador Jr. catches him and powerbombs Dorada into the turnbuckles. Cover, but it gets a two count. Dorada goes off the ropes but Volador Jr. rolls him up for a two count. Superkick by Volador Jr. and she hits a Backstabber, cover, but Dorada kicks out. Dorada charges Volador Jr. and hits a rebound dropkick out of the corner, cover, but Dorada gets a two count. Dorada charges Volador Jr. but Volador Jr. moves and Dorada gets caught up in the ropes. Diving legdrop by Volador Jr., cover, but it only gets two. Back up, Dorada goes off the ropes and hits a hurricanrana, which sends Volador Jr. out of the ring.Dorada then dives out onto Volador Jr. with the Brillo Dorada.<\/p>\n

Dorada and Volador Jr. get back into the ring, Dorada goes up to the top turnbuckle but Volador Jr. kicks him. Volador Jr. then goes up top with Dorada and hits an Avalanche Frankensteiner. Cover, but Dorada kicks out. Dorada goes off the ropes but Volador Jr. drops him onto the apron. Swandive sunset flip by Dorada, cover, but it only gets a two count. Back up, Code Red by Dorada, but Volador Jr. kicks out. Dorada is up first, he picks up Volador Jr. and slams him near the corner. Dorada goes up to the top turnbuckle but Volador Jr. gets his boot up when he goes for the moonsault. Cover, but it gets two. Back up, Volador Jr. goes off the ropes and rolls up Dorada for another two. Dorada charges Volador Jr. in the corner, Dorada goes up top but Volador Jr. joins him. Spanish Fly by Volador Jr., cover, but Dorada barely gets a shoulder up. Volador Jr. gets out to the apron and goes up on the second rope, but Dorada kicks him and goes up top. Walking Frankensteiner from the second rope by Dorada, cover, but it only gets a two count. Volador Jr. goes off the ropes and hits the Volador Special, he goes off the ropes a second time and hits a modified Volador Special. Cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winner and still champion: Volador Jr.<\/p>\n

Match Thoughts:<\/strong>\u00a0I jokingly called this tour a Lucha Libre Exhibition, well this match was literally a Lucha Libre Exhibition. I mean there were probably ten dives out to the floor, it wasn’t unusual for the wrestler that got a move done on him to be the first one up to go to the next spot, and generally it was just a series of big spots. Now some of the spots were really nice and their execution was flawless, but others were just really contrived and it felt like I was just watching a small indy with two young wrestlers that just wanted to do lots of big spots and nothing else. I have no idea if this is the same way that the matches are laid out in CMLL, I am assuming they are not, as while kinda fun to watch for the spots this match didn’t really resemble a wrestling match at all.\u00a0Score: 5.0<\/span><\/p>\n

Final Thoughts:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Best Match:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>La Sombra vs. Ultimo Guerrero<\/strong>. While not a masterpiece, at least the match started slow and built up to the big spots instead of just jumping right into them. It still had the spots but since there were fewer it just meant a bit more when they were finally hit. Both these wrestlers really are quality, I have enjoyed watching them over these three shows.<\/p>\n

MVP:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>La Sombra<\/strong>. La Sombra is just a beast. He is a bigger guy (meaning muscular, not fat), but he can still hit the flying spots as well. So his power moves are very convincing, but he can still “wow” the crowd by flying through the air when necessary. Since he came out the victor in what I thought was the best match on the card, he came the closest to standing out on this event, even though no one really blew me away.<\/p>\n

Overall:<\/strong>\u00a0In terms of quality of matches, this event was between the two other events I have reviewed for this tour. It did not have a real blow-away or standout match, and like the others some of the matches came across as an introduction to Lucha Libre more than anything else. Which was probably the goal, and the live crowd seemed to be having a really good time, but these types of matches just typically don’t produce a lot that stick in your mind more than a few hours. For some Lucha Libre fun, it is worth a watch, but as a stand-alone event it had just as much good as bad so I can’t really recommend it.<\/p>\n

Grade: C<\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The FantasticaMania tour comes to an end with Volador Jr. vs. Mascara Dorado, Ultimo Guerrero vs. Sombra, Tanahashi\/Ibushi\/Mistico vs. Nakamura\/Takahashi\/Mephisto, and more<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":4663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[399,40],"tags":[279,234,233],"class_list":["post-4635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fsreview","category-reviews","tag-cmll","tag-new-japan","tag-puroresu"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4635"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4664,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4635\/revisions\/4664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}