Forever Forward Fridays

Black Tiger II VS El Samurai - NJPW 3/20/1994

JJZ: I'm pretty sure this match was filmed by the same guy who filmed that IWA triple threat match! Being honest Black Tiger Eddie is probably my least watched Eddie. Not on purpose or anything. I just never found myself going out of my way to watch his BT stuff. Which is fucking stupid now thinking back on it. This match was so interesting with the fan cam and this crowd was really different for a 90s Japanese crowd. I've always had a soft spot for El Samurai for some reason. I feel like I always rooted for him to be better than he was. Don't get me wrong he has had some great matches but I don't think he was ever able to work his way to the A team. This was a really good match. Great spots and a finish I never saw coming baybay!!!

CJD: Fun fact, this match happened the same day as Wrestlemania X. Man, I love 90s Japanese juniors matches, even if they can be a little aimless at times. But what I hate is that everyone has these slap ass entrance songs that if you're lucky enough to even have them on the tape, the wrestlers run light speed to the ring so you only hear like 12 seconds of the jam!! These guys could learn a thing or two from CM Punk. Or the Colony in CHIKARA. or IWAMS Chris Hero. This was a great find, and many thanks to Matt D from Segunda Caida for uploading it. It was a little stop and start, but it had a good sense of struggle to make up for the lack of rhythm. And plenty of awesome little moments and touches. I know what you mean about El Samurai but the fact he probably smoked a few too many packs and stayed up a little too late with the boys on the back of the bus helped set him apart too. He just had a vibe about him that made him engaging compared to the other juniors at the time. And Black Tiger Eddie is a treat, like with Misawa Tiger Mask it was never the most natural fit, but there's some real goodness to be found there. Case in point!