A bit of American flavor hits Japan as the technical wizards of the Malenko family take on Southern tag team the Fantastics.

Tommy Rogers and Dean Malenko run through a ton of hold/counter-hold sequences that looks beautiful. Joe Malenko gets in, and man are his knuckle lock takedowns wonderful. He grounds Tommy in a hold. Fulton tags in a moment later, but Joe outclasses him. Five minutes gone.

Futlon continues to try to eecute takedowns and holds, but Joe knows the escapes and chains. Dean gets in with Rogers again, and Rogers works the arm. The action gets faster, with Rogers and Fulton making quicker tags. No real sustained advantages, but Dean is really efficient when he takes over. Joe takes over to work Roger’s arm. Fulton is in and shows over some counterholds. Ten minutes gone.

Joe goes to work on Fulton’s arm with really good holds, and Fulton counters with kicks. Dean comes back on Rogers with a Texas Cloverleaf attempt, and Rogers counters with a doomsday device (with Fulton doing the top rope clothesline). Dean comes back with a dropkick, tags in Joe, and Fulton tags in Rogers. Rogers uses some strikes, and knocks Joe in the corner. Great spot where Rogers misses an elbow and really takes the turnbuckle. Dean uses a bow-and-arrow at the fifteen minute mark.

All four men in the ring, Joe gets knocked outside. He comes back as they do a great sequence, and the Malenkos double team Fulton. Rogers saves from the top rope and pankcake Dean with a double team of their own. Back and forth these teams go as it slows down again. A good amount of tags. Great spot where Dean gets in trouble, and big brother Joe takes a top rope move to cover his brother from further injury. They trade several convincing near falls, ending when Dean hits a lariat, Joe grabs a waistlock, and Dean dropkicks Fulton into a German suplex with a bridge for the pin at the twenty minute mark.

On first take, given the ring jackets, boy do the Fantastics seem out of place on this set visually, probably even more than the RNR did. No matter, this is a great change of pace match for this set, and really not as foreign as I expected wrestling-wise. Dean and Rogers put on an opening clinic, and then Joe outclasses Fulton. I like the way Rogers took over Dean’s arm, and Fulton was fine holding the work in short spurts (he’s not bad, I just think of him as the least in this match). And man are the Malenkos an efficient offensive team. Along with their array of holds and transitions into holds, they seem destine to leave the ring with one of the Fans arms. When the Fans do decide to come back with strikes it definitely pops the match as the Malenkos use 95% pure wrestling to that point. It also makes sense as a story without a true heel team.

This progresses past the 15 minute make with a little more flare and fire, and grows to include some great double team sequences that I liked before they slow it down again. I liked seeing the Malenkos get more violent with strikes as time went on. Again, played well with the chess match going on here. Loved the spot where big brother Joe saves Dean and takes a move to spare his brother. Very Funk influenced moment, as we’ve seen. Loved the near falls at the end, and the finish. This was nice because I’ve tired (momentarily) of the Jumbo/Tenryu tags where guys do a million moves that look like they could be finishers, and this had a great pace and a reasonable build up for my tastes. Easily in my top third. 3 ¾ stars and 7.35/10

Brother versus brother in a technical bout.

The opening minutes are beautiful technical wrestling worked around a greco-Roman knuckle lock. Lots of point/counter-point. Dean moves to working the leg. Joe takes hold of a leg and tries to bridge back, controlling the knee until Dean escapes and grabs a bow-and-arrow. They reset. Fived minutes gone.

They trade full nelsons. Dean gets the edge on a takedown battle and tries an armbar. Joe has a takedown that leads to a can opener-like submission. They engage again and Joe clasps on a headscissors. Dean escapes and tries some form of the Texas cloverloaf, but can’t turn his brother. Dean gains a crossface on Joe’s knee in a move I’ve never seen before, then continues on the knee until he’s kicked off at the knee. Ten minutes gone.

Dean sells the knee well and Joe grabs a cravat. Dean attempts a crucifix takeover pin and Joe shows a nice escape for that. They size each other up again. They trade waistlocks and Dean hits a German suplex with a brigde for a two count. Joe battles for a fisherman suplex, and then they trade nearfalls. They crossbody each other in the middle and sell. Dropkicks at the same time and sell. Fifteen minutes gone.

They counter each others piledrivers until Dean hits one. Dean misses a twisting crossbody off the turnbuckle and Dean uses a nifty pin for the win in about 15:30.

Beautiful hold-based wrestling. Perfect point/counter-point stuff with a great progression from knuckle locks to knee holds to full nelsons. They battle over every takedown leading to arm work, and back down again. The chaining from one thing to another is some of the cleaner scientific wrestling you’ll ever see. They built it to where a simple German suplex late felt like a substantial near fall. Basically your appreciation of this match hinges on you finding this clean style interesting, and while it’s not enough to push this really high for me, I enjoyed the psychology and logic. 3 stars and 6.2/10

The Malenko brothers debut in the Diaries series, a team I’ve always enjoyed for their technical skill and pace.

Joe Malenko and Fuchi do some of the best chain wrestling/mat-based holds stuff we’ve seen on the set. Lots of solid stuff and reversals that flow with looking too cooperative. Dean is next, and he’s just as smooth. Fuchi kept up his end. Kabuki tags and and Malenko runs through some silky smooth escapes, teasing his Texas Cloverleaf but not being able to turn Kabuki over. Joe tags in and focuses on the leg, but drops that and ends up with a great crossface at the five minute mark.

Joe runs through escapes with his leg trapped and pulls off something akin to a flipping side Russian legsweep. Kabuki traps Joe’s knee in a hold, then Dean tags in against Fuchi. Faster paced wrestling leads into a nifty arm bar by Dean. Fuchi switches into an arm hold of his own. They reset and work on the mat to a stalemate. Ten minutes gone.

Joe and Dean execute a double suplex and then atag team manuver. Dean hits a dropkick on Fuchi, and they tease a German suplex. Joe loses the advantage and Kabuki tags in, going to work on him with a kick and snap suplex. Fuchi is in with a few moves too. They move to back and forth near falls in a that seems seemless, Joe hitting a German suplex, and then bridged suplex for the Malenko win at 11:40 mark.

Really fun change of pace match that was short but tight as hell. The mat work of the Malenko’s felt silky smooth without feeling too much like a cooperation. Fuchi had great efficient moments too, and Kabuki did his thing without looking to out of place. I thought they changeover to quick tags and near falls worked really smoothly for what a change of pace it was. Could have been jarring and wasn’t. Liked the clean finish and the whole sequence. This ranks up there with the RNR tag on this set as a kick ass under 15 minute match. 3 ¼ stars and 6.5/10

Raven and the dress wearing Saturn are babyfaces at this point. Benoit and Malenko are dastardly heels, and part of a forgotten Four Horseman incarnation of which I think I was the only big fan. The Horseman theme with the horse gallop at the beginning still gives me chills. If it wasn’t for Mongo that was a great materialization of the group. Enough about the Horseman.

Saturn works his butt off from the start, and the Horseman bump around for him. He hits a dive. Whoa! Raven and Saturn actually do a modified Total Elimination (The old Eliminators finisher in ECW that Saturn probably came up with), Raven doing a closeline instead of a kick. It looks awesome. And they get a near fall out of it – which also enhances the story. They have a few good tag team moves that send the heels to the outside, and get Benoit/Malenko a heckling chant. Benoit always worked hard, but Raven seems really motivated in there with him, and their exchanges have speed and emphasis. Raven looks muscularly the largest he ever was here, so he’s carrying weight too, making it all the more impressive. The faces stay one step ahead in the ring.

Perry Saturn’s suplexes, and granted he’s throwing around a smaller Malenko, are really great. I know after his injury in ’97 he used them more and got heat from his old friend, Taz, but Saturn was built to throw suplexes like that. It works in bursts, and gets the crowd going while moving the match along. Going further, Raven and Saturn were a really good tag team I’d totally forgotten about. They cut off the ring, each have great control segments, they have quick tags and share time well, and most important they have some solid double team moves for when they do tag.

The match is 70-30 Raven/Saturn until we hit a commercial break, and when we come back the Horseman are in control. Malenko and Benoit at this point had no real concept of connecting with an audience. They do work as if it’s a real sport, but the arena is empty. Raven has figured out how to curry favor with the faithful by this point, and Saturn gets it by proxy. The heels do know how to work on the leg though, and they capture Saturn while the crowd claps to inspire him. Raven gets the hot tag and manages to work in is drop toe hold into a chair spot (it’s “Raven’s Rules”). A minute of all four in the ring commences but it has the feel of guys hesitating in wait for contrived spots. The spacing isn’t there and Raven’s punches fall flat for me. This leads to Arn Anderson interfering (that looked like crap), and Saturn catching Malenko and hitting the Death Valley Driver for a good finish in roughly 13 minutes. Solid stuff that at times looked great, and other times looked plodding or awkward. Bonus: Bam Bam Bigelow challenges the tag champs (Raven/Saturn) as they walk back stage, calling them “turkeys” Terrific! 3 ¼ and 6.2/10.

Four of my favorite cruiserweights ever lock it up in a tag title match. And the best part? They’re in Canada!

Benoit beats the piss out of Kidman early, and it’s so violent that even I wince. The crowd isn’t as live and in awe of this as I would be. Kidman gets a small comeback and gets out. Malenko then dominates Rey Jr. with holds, and then the Horseman cut off the ring. Rey’s speedy hope spots are wicked on, but Malenko/Benoit get the better of him. The story is the Horseman are too tough, but Kidman/Rey Jr. work from the bottom with flashy moves and quickness. Malenko’s top rope gutbuster is the biggest highspot by mid match, and naturally leads to the heels working over the midsection of Kidman for the heat segment (includes a commercial break). This match has had stiff action and good intensity throughout, but doesn’t have an important or peak feel to it yet.

Small random opinion: Malenko’s float over to a pin is the best I’ve ever seen. Also, the tag moves of Malenko and Benoit ruled. They were very under-rated as a team. Unfortunately, the heat on Kidman wears on and I don’t feel it. Benoit and Malenko are so great, but because they don’t project to the crowd at all, no one cares to react to this beautifully executed match, and even I become bored at home. They are having a match for themselves right here. The heel cheating is great, but it doesn’t get the reaction you’d hope, and the crowd isn’t dead, but they are entertaining themselves.

Malenko and Rey Jr. do big moves at the end to each other, but the finish is Raven coming down with Saturn and DDTing (Great move execution to pop the crowd) Malenko. Rey covers and we’ve got new tag champs in nine minutes shown – so probably 13 minutes. I’m conflicted on this match, because the execution was awesome, and the crowd was there at the end, but it seemed to lack heart, or maybe soul would be a better way of putting it. Still, I’d rather have this type of wrestling style on my TV for ten minutes. 3 and 6/10.

Very cool. Two of my favorite ECW transplants (well four, but I’m referring to Saturn and Raven) meet up with a great unrecognized tag team that was a part of the Four Horseman at this point. At Spring Break no less.

This is odd. Last year Raven had a match where he was booked to get the crap kicked out of him at the spring break show by Chris Benoit. This year, he’s out by himself to get the crap kicked out of him by Benoit – and Malenko. Really solid and strong style methodical beating on Raven here. He refuses to give up, even when put in the Texas Cloverleaf and the Crippler Crossface. A bit creepy to Benoit yelling, “Now it’s time for some pain” in the post – well, Benoit World.

Saturn comes out in a dress while they beat on a lifeless Raven, turns (I guess) on the Horseman, and suplexes everyone to hell. Now we’ve got a good match. Too bad this crowd really sucks reaction wise. Raven is out, so now the Malenko/Benoit team methodically beats the crap out of Saturn. I say methodical only because of the lack of reaction, it’s actually a pretty sweet display of wrestling. After a while watching a beating without much bumping (kicks and punches), I’m not really sure where this should go. It’s solid, but it’s like a machine, which is an apt criticism of these work rate guys. No true connection to the audience at times. Raven comes out for the babyface tag and clears everyone. Nifty move where Saturn gets out of the Crossface, back trips Benoit, and transitions into the Rings of Saturn submission. Suddenly the crowd is alive for these new babyfaces.

Decent to very good finish setting up the future, as Raven cuts off a Dean Malenko belt shot to Saturn with one of his own, and the ref rings the bell for a DQ while Saturn is about to make Benoit tap. That developed into a compelling story and turn some guys faces. 3 and 6.2/10.

Here’s a match-up of future tag partners, Radicalz and Horseman, and great friends that I would have liked to see more often on the set. I’ll take what I can get though, so here we go.

These two really muscle each other around doing holds and create some pins, which I like. Not a lot of daylight between moves, and they really don’t need to strike to be affective, but they certainly do that too. These two make chops and shoulder blocks major match points. Good stuff.

They trade side suplexes and Benoit comes out in control. The match progressive well as they weave in headlocks or arm submissions the even the pace out. Benoit powers out of one to a nice crowd reaction. Counter after counter into a German suplex for Malenko. Benoit with a cradle out of a Texas Clover leaf attempt. Benoit gets a crippler cross face attempt. They do several pin attempts before Benoit catches Malenko in the Crossface for the tap out win in 7 minutes. Post match Raven comes from his ringside seat to hit a DDT on Benoit, building to a match between them.

This is where my job gets hard weeding through so many great matches. This type of match is equal to a seven minute Rey Jr. Lucha match, and even some hybrid stuff done with Eddie Guerrero. I like this a tad more, but I almost feel bad scoring others with a 2 ¾ to 3 ¼ based on being under ten minutes. This was too after all. This is where having others pitch in for a final ballot rather than being the singular ballot sucks. 3 ½ and 7/10.

This is the match that was set up at the end of our last match (Match # 78: Guerrero vs Mysterio). Eddie is the WCW cruiserweight champ here, and as we begin the match the announcers are talking about the recently acquired Bret Hart. That’s right, we’re in the midst of Montreal Screw Job hysteria.

Eddie takes control early and he’s definitely getting a crowd response. They actually pop for Malenko’s offense, and Dean was never a huge fan favorite (he had a good run against Jericho on Nitro). There’s nothing to descript I can tell you about the first half of the match. Eddie does a great groveling heel at one point midway through. There’s a good flow, but nothing stands out until Eddie kicks out Dean’s knee and takes full control. Guerrero moves so well in this match that you really wonder what would have happened had he not been injured in a car accident and gotten so much bigger in WWE.

Eddie makes the match flow with his movement, and Malenko makes it work with his counter moves off Eddie. Great suplex in there that I can’t remember the name of for the life of me. They tease the Texas Cloverleaf once or twice. Guerrero hit the super plex but can’t capitalize. Malenko with a back drop superplex. They milk the ten count. No, that’s the finish in about nine minutes. Double ten count with no winner. A good tease towards a PPV match and a good showing from both. 3 ¼ and 6/10.

This is the night after a pretty famous Guererro vs Mysterio match on PPV. Rey Jr. is the new cruiserweight champ. His first defense is a tough one. Multiple time former champ Dean Malenko. These two had a classic earlier in the set (Match # 38). No more hype. This one sells itself.

Some nifty hold-counterhold stuff early. Lots of mat work and Lucha thrown in with Malenko as a great base and Rey doing all his flying practically from Malenko’s shoulders. Raven’s Flock enters through the crowd during a rest hold. Mysterio’s quickness gets him the lion share of pin attempts, which are always fun variations. Malenko does a gutbuster that pops the crowd and gets a near fall. I dig that Mysterio grabbed the ropes instead of kicked out. Only downer in this affair is the walk through pace at times when they move spot to spot at times. It’s a nitpick, mostly of Malenko who is to obviously trying to be a base for moves at moments.

Killer finish as Mysterio goes for his springboard rana (finisher), Malenko catches for the powerbomb, he goes for his Texas Cloverleaf submission (finisher), and Rey twists for a cool roll up in 4:40. To short to really over rate it, but a fun little match. Rey was so good in ’95-’98, these Nitro matches are like 5 minute gifts from wrestling Gods. 3 and 6/10.

Ultimo Dragon is this hugely influential wrestler, and yet he’s sent out there with Sonny Ono to click photos for a disposable camera because “that’s what Asian people do, right?” Wrestling is so embarrassing sometimes. Maybe if the punch line was at least funnier, or he was a comedy heel. Oh, nevermind.

What a disappointment this one was. I got the impression the short amount of time given to the match and the language barrier somewhat hindered this one, but not much story to it otherwise. It starts well enough with some good lock up and mat hold stuff. Ultimo won’t back down, but as it goes on it seems he won’t sell in the American style either. He got thrown to the floor and popped right up, so Malenko slowly goes to the outside and there’s an awkward moment. Ultimo also has a patch of missing one or two big spots, again it looked like miscommunication. It got better as the match progressed, as Malenko got frustrated and threw a huge suplex, but a lot before that seemed telegraphed stuff you could see coming terribly slowly.

Crappy finish in 8 minutes and Malenko simply chokes him with both hands (no real hold here) for a DQ, and Ultimo actually sells that. Boy where they not concerned with this match on this night. Toney S. on commentary mentions when Dragon kicks Malenko: “that’s one of his moves.” Heenan adds to the conversation by constantly calling Ultimo “The Ultimate Dragon” in a way like he could give a crap about what he’s expected to call. A disappointment for me here. 2 ¼ and 4/10.