Is The Great Zebra White With Black Stripes Or Is It Black With White?

Kenta Kobashi/Kentaro Shiga VS Jun Akiyama/Maunakea Mossman - AJPW 6/9/2000

CJD: We've been talking music while reviewing our matches lately. First albums, demos, quoting lyrics. Well I'm going to roll with it. Your previous Shiga match was like an EP that introduces an exciting new sound for the band. This Shiga match is like the album that follows up that EP and delivers on all that promise and then some. You talked a lot in your review of your match about how things felt fresh. I agree completely and 1999/2000 AJPW desperately needed that fresh coat of paint. And even though everyone here was still in the Burning stable and these teams were just having a little competitive rivalry, you could feel that there was much, much more on the line. I've always had a soft spot for Shiga and Mossman (the future Taiyo Kea), and it's because sometimes you'll stumble onto awesome matches like this from both. This match is made by the hierarchy that Kobashi and Akiyama bring, and their performances are phenomenal. But dare I say our MDTSOCWWKD Champion of the week, Kentaro MFing Shiga, is the star of this show!

JJZ: Wow. This match. I can't believe we are stilling finding these wonderful gems 24 years after the fact. The energy between Akiyama and Kobashi was vibrating off the screen. But the shing star of this match was SHI fucking GA. The way he was demanding to start. And then when Jun wouldn't start the match with him, he just picked his spot and took him out. Well Godamn son, go and take it then. This is why I will always say this is the greatest wrestling ever. And this is what Japan nowadays is missing. At the end of the day this is two vets, a green horn and a guy would I'm not sure his level of Pro but I'd guess it about fourth or fifth year, just putting in work. If the same top guys worked a tag with a mix of experience like this today in NJPW, they'd definitely treat it as a rest match. I hope all that made sense. Also all four guys told a complete story that anyone could understand in any language. Also, that finish was sick!

No Excuses, No Fear

Kenta Kobashi/Kentaro Shiga VS Yoshihiro Takayama/Takao Omori - AJPW 7/4/1999

JJZ: So I picked this match because of a bunch of things I believe are new to me. I don't remember Kobashi ever wearing that face gear before. I can't recall ever watching Shiga before. (I'm totally anticipating you telling me that I have) The length of the was shocking to me since it was a 90s AJPW match. I have seen Omori and Takayama team a few times though. I really found this match unique to the AJPW that I have become accustomed to. The dog on a bone mentality that Omori and Takayama had on Kobashi's nose was awesome. Usually they work that stuff but they were treating it like a real fight and going for Kenta's injury right away. Shiga added a lot of fun to the match with his hot tag. Swig of green tea for those slaps. Dude wasn't pulling shit. I think I made the right call here homie. Enjoy.

CJD: You HAVE watched a Shiga match or two before, but with a career that had a few stall outs, that was cut short by injury, I can totally understand forgetting about him. To quote one of my favorite Mountain Goats songs, "sometimes you get some heat, sometimes it follows you around." The heat was following Team No Fear into and out of the building in this one! I loved the dynamic going after Kobashi's nose brought. And Shiga as the outclassed sidekick, doing anything and everything to help his mentor, was note perfect. He really had me believing on his big comeback there. This was about everything I want in 10 minutes of pro wrestling, right up to and including the finish. You made the right call indeed my friend.

Kick It!

Daisuke Ikeda/Tatsuo Nakano VS Hiroshi Hase/Kentaro Shiga - AJPW 8/22/1997

CJD: Will this derail our Shootstyle Sidequest? Or will it just bring us back closer to the vein? This is much more of a pro style match although there's some good grappling especially between Hase and Takano. This match is kind of an example of Ikeda not having the same special "something" in other settings but I still think the sums of its parts is pretty damn good. In the late 90s I thought Shiga was a super rookie and in retrospect watching him now it's amazing injuries didn't derail his career sooner. The effort is there in spades but he always looks like he's on the brink of a strong breeze ripping him in half. The main thing I'm curious about is how you feel about Hiroshi's performance? I always think of you as a Hase Hater although I don't know if that's fair. But I loved him in this brief AJPW run and thought this match was a great example of his versatility. This isn't where I imagined going with Ikeda at all but this is exactly the kind of match I was in the mood to watch to see Ikeda try to adapt to other settings.

JJZ: Man!! That transition Hase did to get a rear naked choke was amazing. I'm going to always remember the way he got that hold. I rewatched it four times. Anyway! Really good match baby. I wasn't sure if this was gonna be more focused on shoot style or more traditional wrestling. But I think they mixed the bag up really well. Loved the crowd and how much the top blew off that place when the slapping started. I was hoping they would've went back to the sharpshooter stuff because I was loving how much Hase was working to get that bitch on. Nice one CJD!