Puroresu Central

Big Mouth LOUD Illusions VI

Date: July 2nd, 2006
Location: Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Attendance: 1,034

We return to Big Mouth LOUD once again, this time with their sixth show. Lots has changed since last time I did a review of them... in fact the future of the promotion is in doubt. Shibata is still here though of course, main eventing as always, as this time he is against the great Kensuke Sasaki. Sasaki has brought along Nakajima per usual, and also my man Yoshitsune makes an appearance. Here is the full card:

- The Great Kabukicito vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara
- AKIRA vs. Yoshitsune
- Mad Goto and Dog Ohara vs. Yuki Ishikawa and Enson Inoue
- Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Muneki Sawa
- Murakami, Katsumi Usuda, and Manabu Hara vs. TARU, Shuji Kondo, and "brother" YASSHI
- Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kensuke Sasaki

Whether Big Mouth LOUD is a success or not thus far depends on who you ask. I have my own doubts since their cards are infrequent and they don't draw great (although decently), and I feel like Shibata is wasting away part of his career being the ace in a company that doesn't seem to be accomplishing much. Recently Shibata announced that he is now a freelancer, with the future of Big Mouth LOUD in a confused state. I don't wish failure of any promotion and I enjoy BML for the most, I just wonder sometimes what the point is.

The Great Kabukicito vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara
They circle each other to start, tie-up, and Fujiwara pushes Kabukicito to the mat. Chops by Kabukicito, but Fujiwara punches him down to the mat. Kabukicito is back up quickly and slaps Fujiwara in the face, Fujiwara goes back into the corner and Kabukicito punches him down to a seated position. Stomps by Kabukicito and he chokes Fujiwara with his foot. The referee gets Kabukicito back, Fujiwara returns to his feet and gives Kabukicito a headbutt. Fujiwara kicks Kabukicito into the corner, snapmare, and he applies a blatant choke. More choking by Fujiwara, but Kabukicito gets to the ropes and Fujiwara eventually breaks the hold after The Great Kabuki helps from ringside. Irish whip by Kabukicito and he hits a drop toehold followed by a headbutt to the ribs. Cover, but it gets a two count. Kabukicito applies a neck nerve hold, but Fujiwara elbows his way out of it. Stomps by Fujiwara, Irish whip, and he slams Kabukicito to the mat. Fujiwara picks up Kabukicito, trips him up, and applies a leg lock. Kabukicito quickly gets to the ropes however and Fujiwara has to break the hold. Choke by Fujiwara by the ropes, but again Great Kabuki rakes his eyes to help his young apprentice. Running dropkick by Kabukicito to a downed Fujiwara, he picks him up and goes for a scoop slam, but Fujiwara blocks it and hits a scoop slam of his own. Snapmare by Fujiwara and he applies a headscissors. Kabukicito slowly inches to the ropes and finally reaches them, forcing the break. Irish whip by Fujiwara from the corner, but Kabukicito catches him with a kick when he charges in. Kabukicito kicks Fujiwara out of the ring, goes off the far ropes and sails out with a tope suicida, but he mostly misses Fujiwara and Kabukicito crashes head-first into the first row and ringside table. Ouch. Great Kabuki helps him back to ringside and he throws Fujiwara into the ring. Snapmare by Kabukicito, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a diving fist drop. Cover by Kabukicito, but Fujiwara kicks out. Back up, punch by Kabukicito, he charges Fujiwara, but Fujiwara catches him with the Fujiwara Armbar and picks up the victory! Your winner: Yoshiaki Fujiwara

Match Thoughts: The only two redeemable traits about this match were Kabukicito crashing and burning on the dive and Great Kabuki cheating as much as possible. Other then that it was pretty slow and plodding, I know he is a legend of sorts but Fujiwara really doesn't need to be wrestling so often in singles matches and he also shouldn't be wrestling wrestlers much younger then them so they have to slow down their game to match the 57 year old. Course, it is just the opener and there is an on-going storyline here that makes some sense, and while Fujiwara still moves around pretty well all things considered I'd rather not see him in the ring with a wrestler half his age. Score: 3.5

AKIRA vs. Yoshitsune
I actually get to review a Yoshitsune match, today is a happy day. Yoshitsune dropkicks AKIRA twice to start the match, goes off the ropes, but AKIRA catches him with a kick. Irish whip by AKIRA and he delivers a dropkick of his own. Yoshitsune rolls out of the ring to re-group, AKIRA goes for a baseball slide, but Yoshitsune moves out of the way and rolls back into the ring. AKIRA gets on the apron, but Yoshitsune dropkicks him back down to the floor. Yoshitsune then goes off the far ropes and flies out of the ring with a somersault tope suicida, with both he and AKIRA landing in the front row. They really need to move back the railing in BML, that is two straight matches that wrestlers have landed in people's laps. Yoshitsune jumps back into the ring first, but he gets tired of waiting for AKIRA and goes out to get him. The two trade blows on the outside, Irish whip by AKIRA, but it is reversed and AKIRA goes crashing into the railing. Yoshitsune slides AKIRA back into the ring, snapmare, he goes off the ropes and dropkicks AKIRA in the face. Yoshitsune then quickly goes out to the apron and comes back in the ring with a springboard elbow drop. Cover, but it gets a two count. Stomp to the back by Yoshitsune and he applies a reverse chinlock until AKIRA gets a foot on the bottom rope. AKIRA goes to the outside, Yoshitsune follows, but AKIRA throws him into the guard rail. AKIRA goes back into the ring, Yoshitsune gets up on the apron, but AKIRA catches him there and goes for a vertical suplex. Yoshitsune blocks it though and snaps AKIRA's head onto the top rope. Yoshitsune goes for the 619, but AKIRA moves and rolls out of the ring. He then drags Yoshitsune out with him and twice rams him back-first into the ring post.

AKIRA rolls Yoshitsune back into the ring and starts twisting on his leg. Dragon screw leg whip by AKIRA and he applies the figure four leg lock. After struggling for a minute Yoshitsune reaches the ropes, but AKIRA rolls to the outside while keeping the hold applied. He finally lets go and stomps Yoshitsune's leg out on the floor before throwing him back into the ring. AKIRA continues working over Yoshitsune's leg before going back to the figure four. Again Yoshitsune makes it to the ropes, but AKIRA dropkicks him in the knee. Another dropkick to the leg by AKIRA and he gives Yoshitsune a third one. Knee crusher by AKIRA, he picks up Yoshitsune and delivers a vertical suplex. Cover, but it gets a two count. AKIRA puts Yoshitsune up on the top turnbuckle, but Yoshitsune punches him off. Yoshitsune goes for a tornado DDT, but AKIRA swings his injured leg into the turnbuckle. Irish whip by AKIRA and he hits a spinebuster before dropping an elbow onto Yoshitsune's leg. AKIRA goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a splash right down onto Yoshitsune's leg. STF by AKIRA, but Yoshitsune wiggles his way to the ropes and AKIRA has to break the hold. Stomp to the leg by AKIRA, he picks up Yoshitsune and kicks him back into the ropes. Yoshitsune fires back with a forearm, he goes off the ropes and hits another one, but AKIRA kicks him in the leg. AKIRA grabs Yoshitsune's leg, but Yoshitsune connects with an enzigieri. Yoshitsune goes off the ropes, avoids AKIRA and hits a spinning headscissors takedown. AKIRA rolls out of the ring, Yoshitsune goes off the ropes, but he flips himself back into the ring when he sees that AKIRA is watching him. Yoshitsune then charges the side ropes and goes for a quebrada to the outside, but he doesn't jump far enough over and ends up mostly hitting the ropes before rolling down onto AKIRA. AKIRA gets back into the ring first, Yoshitsune gets up on the apron and comes back in the ring with a springboard missile dropkick. Cover, but it gets a two count. Yoshitsune grabs AKIRA around the waist and picks him up, but AKIRA elbows out of it and slaps on the STF. Again Yoshitsune manages to get to the ropes and AKIRA releases his hold.

Stomp to the leg by AKIRA, he goes off the ropes, but Yoshitsune catches him with a savate kick. Yoshitsune goes up to the top turnbuckle, AKIRA charges him, but Yoshitsune does his nifty flip off the turnbuckle, goes off the far ropes, and hits a 619 over the top rope. Yoshitsune then goes to the top turnbuckle, nails a moonsault, cover, but AKIRA barely kicks out at two. Back up, the two trade forearms, AKIRA grabs Yoshitsune around the waist, Yoshitsune elbows out of it, but AKIRA catches him with an enzigieri. Yoshitsune responds with a spinning heel kick, and both men are down on the mat. AKIRA is up first, he goes for a German suplex, but Yoshitsune reverses it with a roll-up for a two count. School boy by Yoshitsune, but again it gets a two count. Yoshitsune charges AKIRA, but AKIRA avoids him and nails a release German suplex. Cover, but it gets a two count. Irish whip by AKIRA, reversed, but AKIRA slams on the breaks and delivers an overhead slam. AKIRA goes to the top turnbuckle, nails the Musasabi Press, and picks up the three count! Your winner: AKIRA

Match Thoughts: The initial report I read said this match was sloppy and had a lot of botches, but really there was only one botch and there were very few miscommunications. Course, the match was over 17 minutes, so such things are bound to happen when one of the wrestlers is relatively inexperienced. I was shocked (and pleased) that AKIRA gave Yoshitsune so much here, as he didn't have to considering his senior status over the young high flyer. Yoshitsune is hard to describe, he is just so quick and nimble with everything he does. For example, after he landing on the other side of the railing because of his dive, to get back in the ring he stepped onto the railing, hopped to the apron, and then slingshoted himself back into the ring. As long as he doesn't kill himself, Yoshitsune will be a great Jr. Heavyweight down the road.

As for the match itself, I think that AKIRA did a good job controlling the action. The leg work made sense to keep Yoshitsune off his feet, and while Yoshitsune's selling of the leg was questionable I have to give AKIRA credit for constantly going back to the leg throughout the match. AKIRA helped this match be more then just a spotfest by grounding Yoshitsune early and making Yoshitsune earn his comebacks. It is a shame that Yoshitsune botched one of the few "big" moves he actually had (even though he did eventually land on AKIRA after bouncing off the ropes and apron), since for the most part this worked more like an AKIRA match then a Yoshitsune match. Considering the match time, this was probably a good thing. Overall it was entertaining and I thought it was structured very well, even though Yoshitsune's inexperience with working a longer singles match with a veteran showed at times. Score: 6.9

Mad Goto and Dog Ohara vs. Yuki Ishikawa and Enson Inoue
Goto and Ohara dump the referee out of the ring as soon as they get into it, and Ohara jumps on the mic to explain their actions. He seems angry. Ishikawa and Inoue come down to ringside and they start brawling in the crowd. They brawl in the crowd over the next several minutes, with nothing worth me doing play by play for. They never get into the ring. Goto and Inoue are up in the stands, with Goto having a chair for much of the struggle as he hits anyone with it that gets near him. Ohara grabs a chair as well and they both pummel Ishikawa and Inoue. Ishikawa and Inoue finally fight back, but Goto hits Inoue with a blow blow. The bell is rung, the match is called a draw, and the crowd is not thrilled.

Match Thoughts: What? I am not sure what I just watched, as it seemed like a non-match match that was only brawling aimlessly around the ring until the bell suddenly rang and the match was considered a draw. Why didn't anyone try to get them into the ring? Why didn't the bell ring sooner? What was the point? Score: N/A

Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Muneki Sawa
They circle each other to start, tie-up, but they release cleanly. Sawa goes after Nakajima, but he can't land any strikes and has to back up. Nakajima connects with a punch to Sawa's face, but Sawa quickly recovers. Nakajima pushes Sawa into the ropes and slaps him before backing off. Sawa charges Nakajima, but Nakajima applies a waistlock into a front facelock. They struggle on the mat for position, Sawa gets Nakajima into the corner and he gives a clean break. They trade strikes again with neither really connecting, front facelock by Nakajima, and he takes Sawa to the mat. Sawa gets out of it and applies a leg lock, but Nakajima quickly gets to the ropes. Sawa rains in kicks onto Nakajima as he gets up, but after a moment he steps back and Nakajima returns to his feet. Single leg takedown by Sawa and he applies another leg submission hold. Again Nakajima makes it to the ropes, and Sawa allows him to get back to his feet. They trade slaps but miss their kicks, but Sawa connects with a series of kicks to Nakajima's leg. Sawa goes off the ropes, but Nakajima catches him with a mid-kick. Irish whip by Nakajima to the corner and he hits a jumping forearm. Arm drag by Nakajima, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a missile dropkick. Cover, but it gets a two count. Nakajima picks up Sawa, Irish whip, but Sawa ducks the kick and hits an overhead kick. Nakajima goes off the ropes, but Sawa catches his leg and delivers a dragon screw leg whip. Sawa goes for a Shining Wizard, but Nakajima ducks out of the way. Kick to the chest by Nakajima, he picks up Sawa and hits a backdrop suplex. Sawa quickly applies a keylock though and goes back to the leg lock. Again Nakajima rolls to the ropes however and Sawa breaks the hold. Sawa picks up Nakajima and applies a waistlock, Nakajima elbows out of it, but Sawa slaps on an ankle lock. Nakajima reaches the bottom rope, Sawa lets go and goes off the ropes, but Nakajima catches him with a trio of kicks, knocking him to the mat. Cover by Nakajima, but it only gets a two count. Nakajima picks up Sawa and applies a waistlock, but Sawa rolls out of it and puts Nakajima in an ankle lock. They are too close to the ropes however and Nakajima has little trouble in reaching them. Back towards the middle of the ring, Sawa nails the Shining Wizard, cover, but it only gets a two count. Sawa picks up Nakajima and applies a full nelson, but Nakajima rolls out of it. Armdrag by Sawa and he goes for a kick, but Nakajima ducks it and delivers the high kick to Sawa. German suplex hold by Nakajima, and he picks up the three count pinfall! Your winner: Katsuhiko Nakajima

Match Thoughts: A pretty simple match between young wrestlers, on most cards this would have been the opener but things are a little different here in BML. Sawa's constant attempts to take out Nakajima's leg was good, but (oddly enough) Nakajima was the one here that really didn't do much. He hit a few kicks and the German suplex at the end, but that was just about it in terms of moves that did any damage to Sawa. I didn't like the first few minutes because I didn't buy the hate (Murakami they are not), but they settled down as the match went on. Not much to this match, but it was a solid encounter between two rising stars. Score: 5.5

Murakami, Katsumi Usuda, and Manabu Hara vs. TARU, Shuji Kondo, and "brother" YASSHI
Murakami and TARU start things off. TARU quickly bails from the ring though and he regroups outside with the other Voodoo Murderers. They then charge back into the ring when Murakami isn't looking, TARU takes Murakami up into the stands and throws him into the crowd. Meanwhile, Usuda and YASSHI are fighting at ringside, with YASSHI sending Usuda into the railing. TARU picks up Murakami where ever they are and rakes his eyes, while YASSHI maintains control over Usuda. Usuda fights back though with a series of mid-kicks, as TARU literally throws Murakami out of the building. He brings him back in as they slowly work their way back to ringside, and Kondo slides Murakami into the ring. All three members of the Voodoo Murderers stomp on Murakami as the crowd boos their morally apprehensible yet effective strategy. YASSHI throws Murakami into the corner and Usuda tags himself in. Usuda and YASSHI trade strikes, YASSHI goes for an Irish whip, but Usuda hangs onto the top rope. He finally succeeds, reversed by Usuda, and they continue trading strikes. Usuda wins the battle with a spinning heel kick, cover, but it gets a two count. Backslide by Usuda and he converts it an armbar, but it is quickly broken up. Usuda kicks YASSHI repeatedly in the arm and throws him into Hara's boot. Usuda tags in Hara, who forearms YASSHI into the corner. High kicks by Hara, YASSHI tries to fight back, but a punch sends him down to the mat.

Hara picks up YASSHI and kicks him against the ropes while Usuda kicks him from behind. Hara tags in Murakami, and Murakami kicks YASSHI in his corner while Usuda holds him. All three men choke YASSHI in the corner, and Murakami tags in Usuda. Usuda picks up YASSHI and slams him to the mat. Cross armbreaker by Usuda, but it is broken up by Kondo and TARU. Usuda picks up YASSHI and connects with a high kick. He gets him to his feet again, snapmare, and he applies a reverse chinlock. YASSHI gets a hand on the ropes, but Hara kicks it off and YASSHI is choked by Murakami and Hara while Usuda talks to the referee. Back up, Usuda throws YASSHI into the corner and tags in Hara. Kicks to the chest by Hara, but YASSHI catches one and grabs his testicles. That's a fun reversal. Now it is Hara being triple teamed in the corner, and TARU is tagged in. TARU puts Hara into the ropes, he goes out to the apron and kicks him repeatedly in the chest. He then gets back into the ring and makes the tag to Kondo. Kondo picks up Hara and punches him to the mat, but Hara returns with strikes of his own. Kondo forearms Hara down to the mat and chokes him with his boot. Kondo throws Hara out of the ring, and TARU throws him into the guard rail before attacking him with the metal stick. Choke by TARU, and he slides Hara back into the ring. Kondo and YASSHI are waiting for him and they both dropkick him in the head. Cover by Kondo, but it only gets a two count. Kondo picks up Hara and throws him into the corner. YASSHI and Kondo then Irish whip him to the opposite corner corner, YASSHI and Kondo hit running lariats, and TARU follows with a running splash. Kondo assists YASSHI in hitting a splash, cover by YASSHI, but it gets a two count. Kondo comes back in and they hold up Hara so that TARU can give him a scissors kick to the groin area. Cover by YASSHI, but the referee is slow to count due to all the cheating I guess. YASSHI picks up Hara, but Hara snaps off a dropkick. Irish whip by Hara and he delivers a high kick before tagging in Murakami.

Murakami gives high kicks to all the members of the Voodoo Murderers before punching YASSHI back into the corner and jumping down onto him. Murakami picks up YASSHI and throws him into the corner, tagging Hara back in. Irish whip by Hara and he hits a jumping knee. Vertical suplex with a bridge by Hara, but it only gets a two count. Hara picks up YASSHI and applies a waistlock, YASSHI elbows out of it, but Hara pulls him back to the mat. German suplex hold by Hara, but again it gets a two count. Snapmare by Hara and he kicks YASSHI in the back. He goes off the ropes, but TARU hits him with a chair from the outside. TARU then gets in the ring and hits Hara repeatedly with the chair before hitting the referee with the chair as well. Kondo comes in with a chair and they both attack Hara with them as the referee calls for the bell. Your winners by DQ: Murakami, Katsumi Usuda, and Manabu Hara

Match Thoughts: To enjoy a Voodoo Murderers match, you have to like lots of cheating. Luckily I do, and even though the match structure was really simple (bad guys cheat, good guy finally makes the tag, good guys clean house, bad guys get themselves DQed) it was a fun match. The Voodoo Murderers have cheating down to a science at this point, and even though Murakami and company tried to out-cheat them at first they really had no chance. YASSHI played a good whipping boy, but I wish that Kondo had done more since I have always enjoyed his work. Not a lot of substance, but a perfectly acceptable match, and even though the ending might have seemed a little cheap its a pretty normal thing when it comes to the Voodoo Murderers. Score: 6.3

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kensuke Sasaki
Shibata charges Sasaki to start the match and hits a jumping knee. Kicks by Shibata and he uppercuts Sasaki into the corner. After two kicks to the chest, Shibata backs off, but then comes back with a dropkick. Backdrop suplex by Shibata and he kicks Sasaki in the back. Sasaki ducks a front kick, grabs Shibata and delivers a backdrop suplex of his own. Shibata rolls out to the apron and gets up, but Sasaki dropkicks him off and then sails out onto Shibata with a pescado. Sasaki gets back into the ring and Shibata eventually follows. Sasaki and Shibata trade strikes, with Sasaki's chops winning most of the time. Shibata doubles Sasaki over with a pair of kicks however and stomps him down to the mat. Shibata picks up Sasaki and kicks him back down. Shibata throws Sasaki into the corner and connects with a pair of kicks to the chest. Elbows to the back of the head by Shibata and he goes off the ropes, but Sasaki catches him with a chop to the chest. Sasaki picks up Shibata and lariats him hard in the face. Again Sasaki picks up Shibata and chops him against the ropes. Headbutt by Sasaki, but Shibata comes back with a headbutt of his own. Another headbutt by Sasaki and he clubs Shibata to the mat. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Lariats to the back and front by Sasaki, he folds Shibata over for the cover, but Shibata kicks out. Lariat in the corner by Sasaki, he drags Shibata to his feet, Irish whip, and he hits another lariat. Cover by Sasaki, but it only gets a two count. Sasaki kicks Shibata in the head as he gets to his feet, they trade slaps, but Shibata floors Sasaki with a running kick.

Back up, they trade headbutts, with Sasaki getting the better of it. Vertical suplex by Sasaki, cover, but it gets a one count. Chops by Sasaki in the corner, Irish whip, but Shibata ducks the face crusher attempt and dropkicks Sasaki in the corner. Shibata kicks Sasaki out of the ring, goes outside himself, and he Irish whips Sasaki into the railing before following with a running boot to the head. Snapmare by Shibata on the outside and he kicks Sasaki in the back. Shibata rams Sasaki into the ring post before sliding him back into the ring. Cover by Shibata, but it only gets a two count. Shibata applies a sleeperhold, Sasaki gets to his feet though and grabs the top rope. Shibata kicks him in the chest to get him off the ropes, he gets a running charge at Sasaki, but Sasaki catches him with a knee to the stomach and follows with an ipponzei. Sasaki waits for Shibata to get up and tackles him in the corner before clubbing him down to the mat. Sasaki then goes up to the top turnbuckle, but Shibata is up in time and joins him up top. Superplex by Shibata, he waits for Sasaki to get up to one knee and kicks him repeatedly in the chest. Sasaki gets up, but Shibata continues to kick him. Lots and lots of times. Sasaki finally goes down, and Shibata nails the PK. Cover, but it gets a two count. Shibata quickly goes for the cross armbreaker, but Sasaki lifts Shibata up off the ground and powerbombs him to the mat. Shibata is unphased and slaps on an ankle lock, but after struggling for a minute Sasaki makes it to the bottom rope. The hold isn't released however, as Shibata pulls Sasaki back to the middle of the ring. Again Sasaki makes it to the ropes, Shibata gets up and kicks Sasaki in the chest. Shibata goes off the ropes, but Sasaki is up and knocks off his head with a lariat. Sasaki then picks up Shibata and plants him with a Tornado Bomb. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Sasaki goes off the ropes, lariats Shibata in the back of the head, and follows with another one from the front. Cover, but Shibata quickly kicks out. Another lariat by Sasaki, he picks up Shibata and nails the Northern Lights Bomb. Cover, and he picks up the three count! Your winner: Kensuke Sasaki

Match Thoughts: This is the match that Sasaki broke his orbital bone, it happened when Sasaki gave Shibata the Northern Lights Bomb... if you look closely, Shibata's knee connects with Sasaki's face after he lands and that is the only time during the match that Sasaki held his eye. Anyway, this was an odd little match. On one hand, Sasaki gave Shibata a lot of offense, but at no point did it seem like Sasaki was in any danger whatsoever of losing the match. The leg work seemed to come out of nowhere, as little had been done on the leg previously and nothing would be done to the leg afterwards. Sasaki sold the leg ok, but it was clear that the match wasn't ending with a Shibata ankle lock. It just seemed like they were filling time. I didn't mind though the long stretch of Shibata kicking Sasaki repeatedly in the chest while Sasaki took it, because Sasaki does that in a lot of matches - challenges his opponent to knock him down with their strikes. The crowd was into it and the action was solid, but there was never any doubt who would win. Score: 6.4

Final Thoughts:

From top to bottom this was not a very good show. I really like AKIRA, Yoshitsune, Shibata, and Sasaki, and they all looked good on this card. The other matches however ranged from dreadful to decent, and if you never see any of these matches then I don't think you are missing much. Generally if I go an entire event without giving any match higher then a 7, that is a pretty bad sign, because I am pretty giving when it comes to ratings. BML is (was?) an interesting concept, but here we are at the sixth show and I still have no idea what they are trying to accomplish. I don't think they know either, which is part of the problem.