In this series, Austin Skinner takes a look back at some of Japanese Puroresu’s most niche, commercial VHS tape offerings… those of the deathmatch (AKA ‘Garbage’) promotion known as W*ING (Wrestling International New Generations). This time, he is covering Be Dreamers, a tape featuring footage from a W*ING event that closed this tour, dated 2/16/1992.
PREFACE:
I went into this tape with an open mind, as I knew a split within W*ING had occurred by this point. Most of the karate-based performers would be gone, as owners Mickey Ibaragi and Kazuyoshi Osako would have a falling out at the end of 1991. Osako would take the shoot style wrestlers and karate-based guys (a lot of guys I’ve liked watching up to this point) to form a new, sister promotion to W*ING… one that would ultimately, never materialize. What was left inside W*ING were the guys willing to spill their blood, sweat, and tears in the ring. The hardcore faithful. I assumed this show, which closed out their first tour following the split, would mark a new era for W*ING. After nearly four months of dormancy, would the card feel hollow without some of the main guys we’ve watched up to now? Or, would a more defined promotion identity help fill those gaps?
Only one way to find out…
This event took place inside Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, in front of over 2,000 fans. Our tape skipped the regular brand logo flashes and went right into a video that featured fans giving messages to… Gypsy Joe? Messages were quickly given by fans with the flash ’10 Years Romance’ slogan zipping by in between messages. Then, we went into a highlights package of Gypsy Joe and Mr. Pogo inside a steel cage doing battle with the W*ING logo overlayed on top. Is this a retirement angle?!
Next, we travelled back to February 9th, the opening of the BE DREAMERS tour. We were shown clips from the main event, a Bunkhouse Tag Team Match that pitted Gypsy Joe & Mitsuhiro Matsunaga against Mr. Pogo & Miguel Perez, Jr. Text at the bottom of the screen read, “The main event’s Bunkhouse Tag Death Match became a chaotic match.” Fans ran while Matsunaga and Perez battled on the balcony. For the first time in the venue’s history, Matsunaga then dove from the balcony! Text then read, “W*ING WILL GIVE YOU ‘BRAVE'”!
We then got a quick interview with Matsunaga about his dive off the balcony and then it was right to Gypsy Joe, being interviewed backstage. He said for the last ten years, he has wrestled many cage matches here in Japan. He has only been defeated in the cage one time and plans on being in a good position to beat Pogo in the cage tonight. He closed by saying he is proud to be wrestling in Japan and hopes that fans will continue to support W*ING forever!
The opening package continued with flashes from the opening ceremonies, including the introductions of the wrestlers. Then, it was time for our opening contest!
The Headhunters (Headhunter A & Headhunter B) vs. Original TNT & Ryo Miyake:
- We joined the match in progress, as The Headhunters were taken to task by Original TNT (not to be confused with the TNT from earlier in our tape reviews. This guy was Action Jackson, not Savio Vega), who reversed a double-clothesline attempt and hit a jumping clothesline of his own on both men. Miyake was then tagged in and got some offense in before we transitioned to him getting a nasty powerbomb into a HUGE moonsault for a three count!
- Wow… so, we got to see about two minutes of this match. That said, I was glad to see The Headhunters back, despite them appearing much heavier than we last saw them. The more established team got the win here, though we didn’t see very much of anything else at all.
Suzuka Minami vs. Bat Yoshinaga:
- Next up was our ladies bout of the evening, set for one fall to a finish with a thirty minute time limit. The bell rang and action was quickly underway, as Minami jumped Yoshinaga. A spinning wheel kick in the corner reversed the momentum and then it was Yoshinaga all over Minami with nasty kicks. A couple of near falls went back and forth until Yoshinaga found an arm submission opening. We then transitioned to Yoshinaga coming off the top rope with a missile dropkick. A suicide dive through the ropes to the outside would get Minami back into the match, and to follow up, she hit her own series of kicks off the top rope. Yoshinaga depended on a foot across the bottom rope to save her from being pinned. A sunset flip off the top rope almost kept Yoshinaga down again but she was able to kick out. A senton splash finally ended the match, giving Suzuka Minami a hard-fought victory here! Bat Yoshinaga bowed to the crowd in defeat and appreciation before exiting.
- Again, this one was cut to ribbons, so we barely saw much of anything here. From what I gathered, this was probably a pretty solid match and much more entertaining than the opening tag…
During the introductions of the next bout, we got spliced in interview footage featuring Yukihiro Kanemura from earlier in the day while setup of the ring was going on in the background.
Mitsuteru Tokuda was next for a quick interview to share a few words.
Yukihiro Kanemura & Hiroshi Shimada vs. Mitsuteru Tokuda & Masayoshi Motegi:
- Next up was our second tag bout of the evening, this one was set for one fall, thirty minutes for a limit. We actually got to see full introductions in this one. Kanemura and Motegi kicked things off, with Motegi hitting a set of dropkicks and a diving plancha out to the floor. Back on the apron, Kanemura had a nasty elbow waiting for him, followed by a spinning wheel kick to the back of the head for a near fall. Both men slapped each other around, followed by Motegi hit a set of belly-to-belly suplexes. Motegi then ducked a clothesline and turned it into a nice German suplex. Shimada ran in to make the save and ate a German suplex for his troubles. We then transitioned into the next clip with Shimada getting some offense in before we were back to Kanemura being in. Kanemura then hit a spinning wheel kick in the corner with so much force, it sent him up and over the ropes to the floor! Finally, Tokuda got a tag and began throwing around both opponents with suplexes. Another transition brought us to Tokuda being a single-leg crab by Shimada being assisted by Kanemura! Tokuda rallied back with a nice standing dropkick and a near fall over Shimada. Surprisingly, Shimada locked in a knee bar that forced Tokuda to tap out! After the match, Toluda seemed to challenge both men to a rematch.
- This was definitely a way to spotlight both the heelish tendencies of Kanemura and the fighting spirit of Tokuda. Motegi also had some of the best offense of the match to kick things off. All four guys worked well together and I was surprised to see guys like Mitsuteru Tokuda and Masayoshi Motegi sticking around with W*ING following the split. Big win for W*ING to have all four of these guys, though. Solid tag bout and we were shown a nice chunk of it.
Miguel Perez, Jr. was backstage for an interview, holding what he called the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship. He was here for two reasons, for the money and the prestige. Whenever The Iceman is ready to face him, he’ll be ready!
Next up, The Iceman was standing at ringside for a pre-show interview of his own. He gave props to Perez, Jr. for being the Caribbean Heavyweight Champion, though he has put his shoulders to the mat for a three count before. Tonight, he will once again put his shoulders to the mat for three to become the new Caribbean champion! He closed the interview by saying that tonight will mark the start of the Quiñones Dynasty coming to an end!
Miguel Perez, Jr, vs. The Iceman:
- Our singles match for the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship was up next. On fall to a finish with a sixty minute time limit. Following the introductions we transitioned into early in the match that had Perez come off the top rope with a crossbody that turned into an armdrag after being reversed by Iceman. A dive to the outside on Perez lead to a pin attempt to no avail. Our next transition saw Perez in firm control, hitting some punches and a baseball slide to Iceman that sent him into the first few rows of chairs. An Asai-style cutter was then hit by Perez, as he springboarded off the second rope to the floor. Brawling ensued, with Perez using chairs at ringside on the masked man. We then cut to more brawling on the outside, with Iceman’s mask COVERED in bright red blood. The two traded strikes back and forth before Iceman hit a DDT on a skinny table. Back in the ring, Iceman hit a wheel kick for a near fall, followed by a jumping DDT that also failed to put Perez, Jr. away. Several blocked German suplex attempts with standing switches occured, with Iceman finally getting the bigger man up and over with one for another near fall. Both men were well bloodied by this point and finally it was the champion who was able to bridge over The Iceman to retain his WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship! The two men stared each other down after the bout, as Perez, Jr. stood with his championship.
- I wish we would’ve been shown this full match, especially with it being for a title. Once again, from what we saw, this seemed like a decent brawl of championship bout here. I was expecting Iceman to win the title but I didn’t hate that Perez, Jr. retained, either. This seemed like chaos from start to finish with some big moves being hit by both guys. This one definitely cranked up the volume of the show, at this point.
We got some quick pre-match words from Mitsuhiro Matsunaga here.
Followed by the same from Dick Murdoch. Murdoch called Japan the number one country for pro wrestling. He has been here many, many, times and plans to return many more times in the future. He called Matsunaga a karate master and said that the match was probably going to be difficult. His plan was to go out and use wrestling while Matsunaga used his karate… and like he always says, a good wrestler can beat anybody on any given day!
Mitsuhiro Matsunaga vs. Dick Murdoch:
- This special attraction singles match was scheduled for one fall, sixty minutes for a limit. Matsunaga is definitely being positioned as the new face of the company and he was going to have his hands full with the legend, “Dirt” Dick Murdoch here. Again, I was surprised to see W*ING retain Matsunaga over Osako taking him, as he was firmly a karate guy up to this point. A handshake opened this one off, with both men tensing up and refusing to let go! They circled and finally locked up, with Murdoch getting in a standing side headlock and take over on Matsunaga. The headlock continued on the mat, with Matsunaga’s shoulders nearly being pinned to the mat before he was able to get his foot across the bottom rope to break the hold. Back on their feet, Karate kicks and strikes stung Murdoch in the corner, with the crowd responding huge to the strikes! More spinning kicks stunned Murdoch but he was able to land a commanding elbow across the face of Matsunaga that sent him to the mat. More mat-based submissions were then exchanged. Knees and headbutts rocked Murdoch in the corner again and Matsunaga landed a kick to the head the sent the legend sitting slumped in the corner. Out of desperation, Murdoch again went to a standing elbow strike to stop Matsunaga’s roll of karate-style strikes. On the floor, Murdoch draped Matsunaga’s head and neck off the arpon and hit a guillotine-like elbow. Back in the ring, Matsunaga took back over, ultimately finding a cross armbreaker submission that left Murdoch in a bad way until he got a rope break. Frustrated, Murdoch got in some closed fist punches and forced his opponent to the mat with a nasty arm bar of his own. Matsunaga was able to crawl to the ropes the first time, but the second time Murdoch trapped him with the arm bar it caused a referee stoppage. Murdoch was awarded the victory, with Matsunaga unable to break the hold and passing out. After the match, Murdoch offered Matsunaga a handshake that was accepted. He grabbed a house mic and thanked the fans for their support in the face of this defeat.
- This was surprisingly more competitive than I thought it was going to be. Murdoch was able to work a good match, leading Matsunaga through this one. The emphasis of the striking skills of Matsunaga was put over huge by the legend and he did many favors to boost Matsunaga’s star power here. The pass out finish and show of mutual respect at the end were the whipped cream and cherry on top. A surprisingly good strike-fest here.
We then met Mitsuhiro Matsunaga backstage for a post-match interview. He shared a few words about the match and thanked Dick Murdoch for the fight.
Mr. Pogo was up next to share his thoughts on his opponent, Gypsy Joe, tonight. Victor Quiñones stood by as his man did all the talking.
It was then Gypsy Joe’s turn to speak and he said he was expecting to have a great match with Pogo tonight, wanting all the wrestling fans of Japan to know that he’s going to teach him something tonight. He has chased Pogo from Kansas City, all over the United States, and back to Japan to finally have him in the ring tonight. He wants to prove to the Japanese people that he is the best wrestler to ever come over to Japan and asked that they be behind him one-hundred percent tonight!
Mr. Pogo vs. Gypsy Joe:
- We got both men’s entrance into the cage here and the door was closed. It was announced as one fall to a finish, no time limit applied, and would be contested under Texas Deathmatch rules (winner would have to pin his opponent for a three count and then opponent would have to stay down for an additional ten count from the referee). Joe went right after Pogo, getting him down and taking off a boot of Pogo’s to hit him with it. Joe beat the hell out of Pogo with this boot before he was rammed head-first into the cage hard. He was immediately busted open after hitting the cage a second time. Then it was Pogo’s turn to use a boot on Joe and he blasted away before Joe fired up to his feet to slap Pogo hard across the face. The fans cheered him on as Pogo backed away in shock. It was then Pogo who went into the cage hard not once, but twice. A set of standing headbutts rocked Pogo and busted him open. Joe then came off the top rope with a knee drop that kept Pogo down for a near fall. We then got a sweet-looking camera angle from one of the top corners of the cage as both men struggled back up to their feet. More headbutts happened, keeping Pogo down for another near fall. Pogo fired up and smashed Joe hard against the cage before Victor threw him a chair from ringside. Joe took it right over the head several times without going down, so chair after chair was thrown in and smashed over his head! He stayed standing, which lead to Victor throwing in a whip to Pogo. Pogo blasted Joe with the whip across his back and choked him with it. Both men then ended up on the top of the cage, with Joe’s head being smashed into the top bar before being dropped back down into the ring, becoming trapped between the cage wall and the ropes. Pogo smashed Joe hard into the cage a few more times while he was trapped at this point. Both men returned to their feet and exchanged hard chops, with Joe coming out on top. A scoop slam put Pogo down long enough for Joe to scale the cage and come off the top with a legdrop that missed. Pogo hit a stiff running clothesline for a near fall over Joe. Pogo then spiked Joe with a piledriver. A diving splash off the top rope nearly kept Joe down for a ten count from the referee. Ultimately, it was a clothesline that put Joe down for a count of ten as the referee called for the bell.
- This was a war and easily the best Gypsy Joe match I’ve ever seen. It was a bloodbath, with Joe getting in way, way more offense on Pogo than I expected. Usually, a Pogo match is pretty one-sided, that wasn’t the case tonight, though! There was some nasty chair shots and bumps taken in this one, so props to both guys for putting it all out there in the main event. Unfortunately for both guys, the cage and stipulation were the stars of this one. Though, the right man won in the end! Perhaps, they will begin to phase Joe out at this point? I’m not sure…
After the match ended, Pogo grabbed a chair and pressed it into the neck of Joe to choke him. Suddenly, Mitsuhiro Matsunaga appeared, climbed the cage, and dove off it into the ring and on top of Pogo. He then choked Pogo and punched him as the crowd cheered him on. A seated headlock had Pogo gasping for air, forcing Quiñones to get into the ring and hit him with the whip to break the hold. As Matsunaga pursued Pogo, he was jumped near the curtain by Miguel Perez, Jr. with a chair. Back inside the cage, Gypsy Joe had returned to his feet and grabbed a microphone. He apologized to the fans for losing but promised that he loved them and that he would try to return to wrestling when he could! Fans pressed against the cage walls, as Joe shoke several hands through the mesh. Matsunaga returned to the ring to lift the hand of Joe in support.
Backstage, Mr. Pogo sat in his dressing room as Victor Quiñones called him the new king of the cage match! Pogo shared a few brief words himself.
In Gypsy Joe’s locker room, he again apologized to the fans in Japan and asked that he get one more shot at Pogo. He said he if lost again, he’d retire from wrestling! Joe called Japan a second home to him and said the fans have always treated him beautifully.
A slow motion highlight video of wrestlers helping Joe to the back after the cage match was then shown, with text over the top reading, “W*ING wants to give you courage…” followed by the flashing of the MIRACLE logo.
POSTFACE:
So, it seems without guys like Akitoshi Saito, Hideki Hosaka, & Koichiro Kimura at the helm of these W*ING cards, Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Yukihiro Kanemura, & Mitsuteru Tokuda will be stepping up to take their places. Matsunaga has obviously been shifted into Saito’s place as top babyface for the promotion as of this tour, which is odd, as he wasn’t even featured in footage from any of the last three tapes we watched! I hope his professional wrestling skills progress beyond just the karate kicks, especially if they plan to use him as the company’s ace. That said, I was pleasantly surprised with the performance put on by Gypsy Joe in the night’s main event. I thought for sure they were retiring him tonight, especially after the tape opened with messages for him from the fans. I was pretty disappointed with The Headhunters’ performance here, as they didn’t appear nearly as sharp as they were just a tape or two ago. I’d say this tape proved my hunch right, with this show and tour being a sort of soft relaunch of W*ING and what they plan to be moving forward…
Hopefully, Matsunaga can carry the banner and fly the W*ING flag high in our next VHS tape, WHO’S THE DANGER!
See you guys then.