Puroresu Central

World Wrestling Peace Festival 1996

Date: June 1st, 1996
Location: Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 5,900ish (although it varies greatly from source to source, one had it at 2,500)

This is probably the biggest show to ever take place in America that had wrestlers from so many different promotions in North America, Mexico, and Japan. Here we see wrestlers from AAA, New Japan, WCW, Michinoku Pro, and EMLL as well as a Joshi match to make this a very complete card. Since the show took place in California, the crowd was very involved in the matches with the Lucha Libre wrestlers as they had seen the wrestlers before. While the matches did not get a lot of time, the main idea was to put on an entertaining show for the live crowd. The WCW matches (Luger/Saito, Wright/Benoit, and Sting/Giant) are not shown on the DVD for copyright reasons. Here is the full card as shown:

- Bobby Bradley vs. Jim Neidhart
- Akira Hokuto and Lady Apache vs. Bull Nakano and Neftaly
- Heavy Metal and Psicosis vs. Rey Misterio Jr. and Ultimo Dragon
- El Hijo Del Santo vs. Negro Casas
- Hector Garza, Atlantis, and Dos Caras vs. Silver King, Dr. Wagner Jr., and Gran Markus Jr.
- Black Cat vs. Tatsumi Fujinami
- Cibernetico and Pierroth Jr. vs. La Parka and Perro Aguayo
- Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Chris Jericho vs. Konnan
- Jushin "Thunder" Liger vs. The Great Sasuke
- Antonio Inoki and Severn vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Taktaraov

Bobby Bradley vs. Jim Neidhart
Now I follow wrestling pretty well, but who the hell is Bobby Bradley? Anyway, tie-up to start, and Neidhart shoves Bradley to the mat. Tie-up again, Neidhart throws Bradley into the corner, but Bradley avoids the clothesline and applies an armbar to Neidhart. Neidhart tries to slam Bradley to get out of it, but Bradley keeps the hold applied. Irish whip by Neidhart, and the two collide with no result. Bradley charges Neidhart, but he slides through Neidhart's legs and goes back to the arm. Neidhart struggles to his feet, Irish whips out of it, Bradley gets behind him and tries to roll Neidhart up, but Neidhart holds into the the ropes and Bradley rolls off of him. Bradley charges Neidhart, but Neidhart back bodydrops him up and over the top rope down to the floor. Bradley slowly gets back into the ring, but Neidhart catches him on the apron and clubs him in the chest. Back in the ring, snapmare by Neidhart and he slams Bradley to the mat by his hair. Neidhart throws Bradley to the mat by his hair again and thrusts him in the throat. Neidhart then grabs Bradley by the legs and kicks him in the lower midsection. Bradley begins to fight back, but Neidhart rakes him in the eyes. Choke across the bottom rope by Neidhart and he chops him in the throat again. Powerbomb by Neidhart, cover, but he picks Bradley up off the mat. Neidhart drags Bradley to his feet and goes for a second powerbomb, but Bradley reverses it with a hurricanrana for a two count. Dropkick by Bradley, and another one, Irish whip from the corner and he hits a series of mounted punches. Irish whip again to the corner, but this time Neidhart boots him in the face when he charges in. Running powerslam by Neidhart, cover, and he picks up the three count pinfall. Your winner: Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart

Match Thoughts: A pretty blah match, but about what I was expecting. Neidhart was clearly the lesser worker in the Hart Foundation (his only claim to fame), which is why he is in the opening match for an event that at the time the majority of wrestling fans did not know about. I started doing some research to find out more about Bradley, but I quickly realized I didn't care and since he was only in the opening match I figured anything I found would not have been that interesting anyway. Bradley and Neidhart didn't do anything wrong here, per se, it just wasn't very exciting action. Not much to this match, I am surprised they didn't start with something hotter to get the crowd going. Score: 3.7

Akira Hokuto and Lady Apache vs. Bull Nakano and Neftaly
Nakano and Neftaly jump Hokuto and Lady Apache to start the match, and they ram Lady Apache and Hokuto into each other. Double clothesline on Hokuto, and Nakano flings her down by the air. Another air fling by Nakano, Irish whip, but Hokuto ducks a clothesline and trips Nakano. Irish whip by Hokuto, Lady Apache comes in to help, but Nakano clotheslines both of them to the mat. The crowd seems to be behind Nakano. Nakano chokes Hokuto against the ropes as Neftaly kicks her from the outside. Nakano tags in Neftaly, who clubs Hokuto in the chest. Irish whip, and Neftaly connects on a dropkick. Neftaly picks up Hokuto, Irish whip, and she clotheslines Hokuto in the stomach. Reverse chinlock by Neftaly, and she connects on a backdrop suplex. Cover, but it gets a two count. Nakano comes in the ring without a tag and applies a wicked-looking modified Sharpshooter. She releases the hold, Neftaly comes in the ring and they slam Hokuto's knees to the mat. Nakano drags Hokuto back towards the middle of the ring and twists her knee backwards in a submission hold. Nakano picks up Hokuto, Hokuto fights back, but Nakano clubs her to the mat. Nakano chokes Hokuto again through the ropes, Hokuto falls to the outside, but Nakano follows her out. Nakano slams Hokuto's head into the table at ringside and then viciously clotheslines her to the floor. Nakano gets back in the ring, and Hokuto eventually gets in as well. Irish whip by Nakano, Hokuto goes for a sunset flip, but Nakano sits down on her for a two count. Nakano gets some nunchucks, gives Hokuto an Irish whip, and hits her in the throat with them. Shot to the stomach with the nunchucks, she picks up Hokuto, and nails a powerbomb for a two count. Nakano goes up to the top turnbuckle, but Hokuto rolls out of the way of the guillotine leg drop. Roll-up by Hokuto on Nakano, but it gets a two count. Hokuto tags in Lady Apache, who kicks Nakano repeatedly in the leg. Lady Apache goes for a suplex, can't get her over, Hokuto comes over to help, but Nakano reverses it and suplexes both of them. Nakano tags in Neftaly, Nakano holds Lady Apache for Neftaly, but Lady Apache moves and Neftaly accidentally dropkicks Nakano. Chop by Lady Apache on Neftaly, Irish whip, but Neftaly hits a spinning heel kick. Lady Apache recovers however and flings Neftaly to the mat with a springboard headscissors. Lady Apache ducks a clothesline and applies a waistlock, but Nakano gets back in the ring to help. Double Irish whip on Lady Apache, but Lady Apache ducks the double clothesline and tags in Hokuto. When tagged in, Hokuto comes off the top turnbuckle with a missile dropkick on both of her opponents. who both fall out of the ring. Lady Apache then gets a running start in the ring and sails out with a tope suicida down onto Nakano and Neftaly, and Hokuto follows that with a somersault senton from the top turnbuckle. Hokuto gets Neftaly back in the ring, plants her with the Northern Lights Bomb, and picks up the three count! Your winners: Akira Hokuto and Lady Apache

Match Thoughts: I really enjoyed this match. Nakano is one of my guilty pleasures, and Hokuto is simply an amazing Joshi wrestler. While I had not seen Lady Apache or Neftaly before, both looked fine as well. The only thing that hampered this match was time, imagine Nakano killing Hokuto for 10 minutes instead of 3 minutes... it would have been a cream dream. In case the name rings a bell, Nakano has wrestled in America (she had a somewhat notable run in the WWF), and Hokuto is the wife of Japanese great Kensuke Sasaki. The crowd was heavily into this match, which I think says a lot about the wrestlers since unless the fans were big into tape trading they probably hadn't seen a lot of any of the women besides maybe Nakano. A very good Joshi match, and they did all that they could considering the time constraint. Score: 6.7

Heavy Metal and Psicosis vs. Rey Misterio Jr. and Ultimo Dragon
Psicosis and Misterio start things off. They circle each other, tie-up, but they break cleanly. Tie-up again, armbar by Misterio and he gets Psicosis to the mat with a wristlock. Psicosis gets back to his feet, but Misterio hits a body scissors into an armdrag followed by a spinning heel kick. Misterio kicks Psicosis up on the top turnbuckle, joins him, and hits a top rope Frankensteiner. Cover, but it only gets two. Misterio charges Psicosis, but Psicosis gets a boot up and knocks Misterio out to the apron. With Misterio caught in the ropes, Psicosis goes up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a guillotine legdrop. Cover, but Ultimo Dragon breaks it up. Heavy Metal and Ultimo Dragon start fighting, but they eventually go back to their corners. Back to Misterio and Psicosis, Psicosis goes off the ropes, but Misterio perfectly hits his cartwheel into a 180 hurricanrana. Irish whip by Misterio from the corner, Psicosis goes out to the apron, but Misterio hits a springboard dropkick. With Psicosis on the apron, Misterio goes to the top turnbuckle and nails a hurricanrana down to the floor. Ultimo Dragon and Heavy Metal come in the ring as the legal men, and Ultimo Dragon connects with a flurry of kicks. Single-leg takedown by Heavy Metal, and he applies a leg submission hold. Ultimo Dragon rolls out of it and hits an armdrag, snapmare by Heavy Metal, but Ultimo Dragon lands on his feet. Heavy Metal finally manages to get Ultimo Dragon down with a clothesline, Irish whip from the corner, reversed, but Heavy Metal kicks Ultimo Dragon when he charges in. They struggle for position, Ultimo Dragon does a moonsault off the top turnbuckle and lands on his feet before hitting an enzigieri. Both men tag out, but Psicosis challenges Ultimo Dragon to get back in the ring. Side headlock by Ultimo Dragon and he hits a shoulderblock on Psicosis. Psicosis stays on his feet though, Ultimo Dragon goes off the ropes again, Psicosis goes for a back bodydrop, but Ultimo Dragon lands on his feet and connects with a back kick. Irish whip by Ultimo Dragon, reversed, but Ultimo Dragon rolls under Psicosis's legs. Psicosis kicks Ultimo Dragon into the corner, but Ultimo Dragon moves out of the way of one and Psicosis lands in the corner. Irish whip by Ultimo Dragon, reversed, Psicosis charges in, but Ultimo Dragon moves and Psicosis falls out of the ring. Psicosis crawls away from the ring to get out of the range of Ultimo Dragon, and Heavy Metal comes in for him. Misterio comes in as well, Irish whip by Heavy Metal, reversed, but Heavy Metal hits a handstand springboard elbow strike. Heavy Metal picks up Misterio, Irish whip, but Misterio gets him down with an armdrag. Heavy Metal puts Misterio on his shoulders, but Misterio connects with a headscissors. After Misterio avoids Heavy Metal again, Misterio grabs Heavy Metal and guillotines his neck over the top turnbuckle. Heavy Metal comes in for Psicosis as Misterio gets back in the ring, Psicosis goes for a dropkick, but Misterio sidesteps it. Misterio picks up Psicosis, Irish whip from the corner, and he hits a clothesline. Heavy Metal runs in and clotheslines Misterio, but Ultimo Dragon comes in and gives Heavy Metal the same. Scoop slam by Ultimo Dragon on Heavy Metal, he goes for a moonsault, but Heavy Metal moves out of the way. Psicosis then goes to the top turnbuckle and goes for a splash on Ultimo Dragon, but he rolls out of the way as well. From the apron, Misterio springboards back in the ring with a splash attempt, but Psicosis moves. Heavy Metal climbs the top turnbuckle, but he badly misses Misterio when he jumps off and flops to the mat. Back up, Heavy Metal gets Misterio against the ropes and charges him, but Misterio back bodydrops him over the top rope to the floor. Misterio then gets a running start in the ring and sails out with a somersault seated senton. Psicosis then gets in the ring, bounces off the far ropes, and hits a tope suicida on Misterio. Finally, Ultimo Dragon kicks Psicosis through the ropes, gets on the top turnbuckle, and connects with a somersault senton of his own. Ultimo Dragon and Psicosis get back in the ring, Psicosis goes off the ropes, Ultimo Dragon goes for a cartwheel elbow strike, but Psicosis blocks it. Waistlock by Ultimo Dragon, Psicosis elbows out of it and goes off the ropes, but Ultimo Dragon gets him down with a drop toehold. La Magistral by Ultimo Dragon, but Heavy Metal quickly breaks it up. Back up, chop by Ultimo Dragon, Irish whip, reversed, Ultimo Dragon goes for a monkey flip out of the corner, but Psicosis catches him and puts him on the top turnbuckle. Psicosis then climbs up as well and goes for the Frankensteiner, but Ultimo Dragon rolls when he hits the mat and clotheslines Psicosis. Ultimo Dragon puts Psicosis on the top turnbuckle and goes up top, Psicosis tries to get him off, but Ultimo Dragon hits the Frankensteiner anyway. Cover, but Heavy Metal breaks it up. Double Irish whip on Ultimo Dragon, but he rolls through the attack and kicks down both men before tagging in Misterio. Misterio goes off the ropes, ducks a Psicosis heel kick, and armdrags Psicosis to the mat. Irish whip, and Misterio slides Psicosis out of the ring. Misterio then goes to the apron and delivers a corkscrew Asai moonsault on Psicosis. Meanwhile, in the ring Psicosis and Heavy Metal trade blows in the ring, ending with Ultimo Dragon hitting a moonsault off the side ropes onto a standing Heavy Metal. Ultimo Dragon then grabs Heavy Metal from behind, nails the Tiger Suplex, and picks up the three count pinfall! Your winners: Rey Misterio Jr. and Ultimo Dragon

Match Thoughts: A very fun spotfest... but that is purely all it was. This was mere weeks before Misterio would debut for WCW, the crowd was really hot for him though, more then likely because in California they have better access to Atlantis where Mysterio had really become a star. Ultimo Dragon was well-loved also, and they put on a good show that probably burned the crowd out to a degree. I call it a spotfest, but I don't mean that in a derogatory manner, they certainly have their place in wrestling. I just mean that there was no ring psychology, weakening of one opponent, etc. It was just a string of really impressive moves, and if I am going to have a 1990s spotfest Misterio and Psicosis are the two wrestlers I want to see. Very entertaining match. Score: 7.4

El Hijo Del Santo vs. Negro Casas
Casas charges Santo to start the match and gets him to the mat, applying a reverse chinlock. Santo gets out of it however and grabs Santo's leg, but Casas crawls away and both men are back on their feet. Tie-up, Santo flings Casas to the mat and Casas rolls out of the ring. Casas quickly gets back in, but Santo applies a waistlock. Front facelock by Santo, but it is reversed by Casas. Back up, front chancery by Santo and he drives Casas to the mat. Casas gets back to his feet, but Santo applies a head scissors and spins Casas back to the mat while maintaining the hold. Casas struggles to his feet and gets to the ropes, monkey flip by Santo, but Casas gets in a monkey flip of his own. Armdrag by Santo, and the two jockey for position until both men are back on their feet again. Single-leg takedown by Casas, but Santo armdrags Casas to the mat. Headscissors takedown by Santo and he connects on the rotating armdrag. Santo sets up Casas for the surfboard, gets him up, and drops him back to the mat. Reverse chinlock by Santo, but Casas gets back to his feet and hits a snapmare. Kicks by Casas, but the referee gets him back. Headbutt by Santo, and he hits a series of knees to the head. Kicks to the head by Santo, but Casas fires back with a chop. Casas actually has a cut on his head, probably from a knee strike earlier. Irish whip by Casas, reversed, and Santo lets Casas fly into the ropes before dropkicking him out of the ring. Santo then gets a running start in the ring before sailing out with a tope suicida on Casas. Back in the ring, scoop slam by Santo, he goes to the second rope and dives off, but Casas moves. Quick roll-up by Casas, and he picks up the three count pinfall! Your winner: Negro Casas

Match Thoughts: I'll admit, I was a little surprised that El Hijo Del Santo lost, he might have been even more over with the crowd then the wrestlers in the last match. Like I said, this crowd knew their Lucha Libre wrestlers. A nice short little match, I was wondering if they were going to get their dive spot in, but once they did I was happy. Casas and El Hijo Del Santo were feuding in EMLL at the time, so they were very smooth together and were on the same page throughout the match. Both Casas and El Hijo Del Santo are living legends in Lucha Libre and its a shame they didn't get more time. Obviously the shortness of it hurt things (around six minutes), but they did well with what they had and the crowd stayed into it throughout. Score: 5.9

Hector Garza, Atlantis, and Dos Caras vs. Silver King, Dr. Wagner Jr., and Gran Markus Jr.
Atlantis and Silver King start things off. Tie-up, takedown by Atlantis, reversed by Silver King, and both men are back to their feet. Leg submission by Atlantis, but Silver King makes it to the ropes. Back up, tie-up, waistlock by Silver King, reversed by Atlantis, and he applies an armbar to Silver King on the mat. Silver King gets back to his feet, Atlantis applies an arm wringer, but Silver King flips out of it and both men tag out to Caras and Wagner respectively. Tie-up, armdrag by Caras, another one, and he applies a front facelock. Another armdrag by Caras, and he flips back to his feet as Wagner gets up as well. Takedown by Wagner, cover, but Caras bridges out of it. Knee to the gut by Wagner, but Caras rolls out of the wristlock and applies one of his own. Wagner bodydrops out of it, Caras bridges up, but Wagner gives him another bodydrop. Backslide by Caras for a two count, monkey flip by Wagner, Caras goes for the arm, but Wagner gets out of it and both men are back up again. Garza and Markus are tagged in next. Armdrag by Garza, and another one sends Markus to the mat. Single-leg takedown by Markus, and he hits a scoop slam. Hammerlock by Markus, but Garza snapmares out of it. Another hammerlock by Markus, but Garza flips out of it and armdrags him down. Quick roll-up by Markus, but it gets two. Atlantis and Silver King are tagged back in, Atlantis charges Silver King, but Silver King moves out of the way. Irish whip by Silver King, reversed, and Atlantis connects on the tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, sending Silver King out of the ring. Atlantis contemplates doing a dive, but Markus runs in the ring. Atlantis ducks a Markus clothesline attempt, and gives him a backbreaker as well. Atlantis tags in Caras as Wagner comes in for Markus. Wagner goes off the ropes, drop down by Caras, but Wagner hits a scoop slam. Armdrag by Caras, Wagner tries to kip-up, but twice Caras sends him back down. Finally Wagner gets up, but Caras hits a scoop slam before catapulting Wagner out of the ring. Caras gets a running start, but Wagner quickly runs from the ring before Caras can dive out onto him. Garza comes in for Caras as Silver King enters the ring. Shoulderblock by Garza, he goes off the ropes, and eventually hits Silver King with a dropkick. Irish whip by Garza from the corner, Silver King back bodydrops him when he charges, but Garza lands on the apron. Garza punches Silver King back, goes to the top turnbuckle, he misses the splash attempt, but he lands on his feet. Silver King charges Garza, but Garza takes him down and catapults him into the corner. Silver King rolls out to the apron, and Markus takes his place. Irish whip by Markus on Garza, but Garza connects with a dropkick and Markus falls out of the ring. Atlantis and Wagner comes in as the legal men, and Wagner elbows Atlantis to the mat. Irish whip by Wagner from the corner, reversed, and Atlantis delivers a monkey flip. Dropkick by Atlantis, but he misses the second one. Irish whip by Wagner, reversed, and Atlantis hits a backbreaker before tagging in Caras. Silver King comes in for Wagner, chop by Caras, Irish whip from the corner, reversed, but Caras avoids the Silver King elbow strike. Headscissors by Caras from the corner and he connects with a second one. Silver King rolls out of the ring, with Markus taking his place. Irish whip by Markus and he shoulderblocks Caras out of the ring. Garza runs in and quickly dropkicks Markus back into his corner. Punch by Markus, Irish whip, Garza ducks a clothesline and hits a jumping clothesline of his own. Markus avoids the dropkick attempt though and he tags in Silver King. Silver King grabs Garza, scoop slam, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and goes for a moonsault, but Garza moves. Silver King lands on his feet though and promptly dropkicks Garza out of the ring. Silver King then jumps out after him with a springboard plancha suicida off the side ropes. Caras gets in the ring, as Markus does as well, and Markus knocks Caras to the apron. Markus tries to armdrag Caras back into the ring, but Caras reverses it and flings Markus to the mat. Markus goes off the ropes, but Caras hits a back bodydrop. Wagner runs in and holds Caras for Markus, but Caras ducks and Markus hits Wagner on accident. Irish whip by Caras on Markus, and he hits another tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Markus rolls out of the ring, Wagner runs in and knocks Caras to the apron, allowing Garza to come in as the legal man. Irish whip by Wagner on Garza, but Garza ducks the clothesline and hits a jumping clothesline of his own. He then goes for a spinning heel kick, but Wagner ducks out of the way. Camel Clutch by Wagner, but Garza gets out of it and drives Wagner out of the ring. Garza then hits a baseball slide, goes to the top turnbuckle, and nails his corkscrew plancha suicida. Silver King and Atlantis enter the ring, but Atlantis quickly knocks Silver King to the outside, goes to the top turnbuckle, and dives out with a plancha. Caras and Markus come in the ring, and Markus bumps Caras out to the apron. Markus tries to ram Caras's head into the turnbuckle, but Caras blocks it and rams Markus's head into it instead. Flying crossbody by Caras from the top turnbuckle, and he picks up the three count pinfall! Your winners: Hector Garza, Atlantis, and Dos Caras

Match Thoughts: This match would act as a good introduction to Lucha Libre if you have never seen it before. Fast paced, smooth, lots of wrestlers coming in and out at will, and a sudden ending. The only difference is that this match didn't really have any structure, while in the the three falls setting the wrestlers tend to get a better opportunity to tell a bit of a story in the ring. The match was fine, but it was hard to take it too seriously when even up to the end neither wrestler in the ring was particularly weakened. Honestly I think the match could have gone another 30 minutes, since at the end the only wrestler that looked even slightly hurt was Wagner after Garza's attack. I enjoyed it for what it was, the fast-paced Lucha style can be fun, but in the ideal world I prefer for matches to have more structure. Score: 6.4

Black Cat vs. Tatsumi Fujinami
Handshake to start, they circle each other, tie-up, Black Cat gets Fujinami into the ropes, Fujinami reverses it, and he gives a clean break. Tie-up again, side headlock by Black Cat, Fujinami Irish whips out of it, but Black Cat shoulderblocks him down. Black Cat goes off the ropes, but Fujinami catches him with a dropkick. Backdrop suplex by Fujinami, and he applies a front facelock. Black Cat quickly gets out of it though and twists back on Fujinami's leg in a submission hold. Fujinami reverses the hold with a reverse chinlock, but Black Cat gets a foot on the ropes and Fujinami breaks the hold. Back up, they go into a Test of Strength, and Black Cat hits a DDT. Cover, but it gets a two count. Crucifix roll-up by Black Cat, but that gets a two count as well. They jockey for position, but they end up in the ropes and they get back to their feet on the clean break. They tie-up again, kick to the stomach by Fujinami and he applies a standing wristlock. Black Cat soon reverses it, but Fujinami gets out of it and kicks him repeatedly in the legs. Fujinami gets Black Cat up, Irish whip, but Black Cat avoids the dropkick. Running senton by Black Cat, cover, but it only gets two. Scoop slam by Black Cat in front of the corner, he goes to the second rope, but Fujinami rolls out of the way of the senton attempt. Fujinami gets up and slaps the Scorpion Deathlock on Black Cat, but Black Cat makes it to the ropes. On their feet again, the two trade blows, with Black Cat getting the better of it as Fujinami falls to the mat. Black Cat punches Fujinami down again, he reaches to pick up Fujinami, but Fujinami slaps on the cross armbreaker and Black Cat taps out! Your winner: Tatsumi Fujinami

Match Thoughts: This match seemed incredibly random on a card dominated by Lucha Libre matches and other fast-paced matches. It was a good idea to keep it short, since the crowd never really got into it due to the slower style. Even with it being short, I didn't like the ending with Fujinami winning with the cross armbreaker... I know the cross armbreaker is built up to be a great submission move in Japan but he had done nothing to weaken the arm and Black Cat was the one in control at the time the move was put on. Since he had kicked Black Cat in the legs earlier in the match and put him in the Scorpion Deathlock, I would have preferred a leg submission hold be used instead of an arm one. It wasn't that the match was bad, it was just a little slower then everything else, the crowd wasn't into it, and the ending seemed sudden and illogical. Score: 3.5

Cibernetico and Pierroth Jr. vs. La Parka and Perro Aguayo
Aguayo is the only one here without his mask, while today La Parka is the only one that still has his. And I hope he always does, La Parka is the man. Pierroth and La Parka start things off, but it takes awhile to get things started since Aguayo keeps getting goaded into the ring. Finally the match starts, Pierroth gets La Parka into the ropes, and he slaps him in the chest before backing off. Armdrag by La Parka, but Pierroth clotheslines him to the mat. Pierroth goes off the ropes, but La Parka catches him with a back kick. He goes for a monkey flip, but Pierroth catches him and places La Parka on the top turnbuckle. Pierroth turns his back on La Parka once he puts him up there though and La Parka connects with an overhead headscissors. La Parka dances in front of Pierroth to confuse him, bumps him into the corner, runs into the opposite corner while Pierroth chases him, and hits a double springboard corkscrew senton. Cover, but it only gets a two count. La Parka knocks Pierroth out of the ring, he gets a running start, but Pierroth walks away from the ring before La Parka can do his dive. La Parka sees him move, however, and goes out to the apron before delivering a somersault senton down onto Pierroth. La Parka and Pierroth get back into the ring, and both men tag out. Aguayo and Cibernetico circle each other, and Aguayo hits a dropkick. Snapmare by Aguayo, but Cibernetico gets him to the mat and hits a snapmare of his own. Reverse chinlock by Cibernetico, but Aguayo sneaks in a sunset flip for a two count. The two trade armdrags, takedown by Aguayo, he goes off the ropes, snapmare by Aguayo, he goes for a dropkick, but Cibernetico moves out of the way and both men are on their feet again. Pierroth and La Parka are tagged in, La Parka does the La Parka Dance before Pierroth rudely clotheslines him down. Pierroth picks up La Parka, Irish whip, and he connects with the big boot to the face. Punch to the head by Pierroth and he kicks La Parka low. La Parka rolls out of the ring and Aguayo takes his place. Cibernetico comes in as well, and he press slams Aguayo to the mat before dropping an elbow. Cibernetico calls in Pierroth, who kicks Aguayo in the ribs. Double Irish whip on Aguayo and he is knocked down with a double shoulderblock. Aguayo makes the tag to La Parka, while Cibernetico stays in the ring. Punches to the midsection by Cibernetico, Irish whip to the corner, and he nails an elbow smash. Shoulderblock by Cibernetico, and La Parka falls out of the ring. Aguayo helps La Parka back up to the apron, Cibernetico tries to armdrag La Parka back in the ring, but La Parka reverses it with an armdrag of his own. Pierroth runs in and holds La Parka for Cibernetico, but La Parka kicks Cibernetico back and flings Pierroth to the mat. La Parka (and the referee) duck a double clothesline attempt by Cibernetico and Pierroth before La Parka does the La Parka Strut over to his corner to tag in Aguayo. Cibernetico takes down Aguayo and hits a running forearm in the corner. Cibernetico picks up Aguayo and throws him into a corner, but Aguayo avoids the charge. Pierroth runs in and kicks Aguayo from behind, he holds Aguayo for Cibernetico, but Aguayo ducks Cibernetico's clothesline and Pierroth gets hit instead. Side headlock takedown/headscissors takedown by Aguayo on both his opponents, he ducks a double clothesline and dropkicks both Pierroth and Cibernetico. Aguayo and Pierroth face off, and the two trade slaps to the chest. Pierroth wins the slap battle, he picks up Aguayo, Irish whip, but Aguayo dropkicks him in the head. Pierroth falls out of the ring, Aguayo considers a dive, but Cibernetico runs in the ring and clotheslines Aguayo out of it. La Parka then comes off the top turnbuckle with a spinning heel kick, knocking Cibernetico out of the ring. La Parka gets a steel chair, places it against the ropes where Cibernetico is outside the ring, and dropkicks the steel chair into his head (as some in the crowd chant "ECW"). La Parka then sets the chair up in the ring, gets a running start, and nails the triple jump springboard splash down on to Cibernetico. In the ring, Aguayo hits the double stomp on Pierroth, goes to the top turnbuckle, and connects with the flying shoulderblock. Senton by Aguayo, cover, and he picks up the three count! Your winners: La Parka and Perro Aguayo

Match Thoughts: While not as smooth as the other Lucha matches (I blame Cibernetico), it had La Parka in it to help balance things out. La Parka has to be one of my top five favorite wrestlers, as between his wacky dancing and great high flying moves he is always fun to watch. It seemed at times that they were all on different pages though, and this was certainly the least connected Lucha match on the card. Course, as I mentioned its hard in the Lucha Libre style to really get a story going when it is a one fall match under 10 minutes, but they did what they could. A rather average match that was only elevated by the antics of La Parka. Score: 6.0

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Chris Jericho vs. Konnan
This match is under no-tag and elimination rules. Konnan swings at Bigelow, and we are under way as Bigelow is punched back into the corner by both men. Bigelow clotheslines both Konnan and Jericho down however, he picks up Jericho in a press slam, but Konnan dropkicks him in the knees. Konnan then grabs Jericho and covers him, but it only gets a two count. Bigelow picks up Konnan, snapmare, and he drops an elbow. Cover, but Jericho breaks it up. Jericho punches Bigelow against the ropes and hits a spinning heel kick. Bigelow fights back with a series of headbutts, he goes over to Konnan and punches him down against the ropes. Back to Jericho, Irish whip by Bigelow from the corner, but Jericho avoids the charge and dropkicks Bigelow out of the ring. Konnan grabs Jericho in the ring and connects with his springboard armdrag followed by a flying headscissors. Konnan goes off the ropes, but Jericho catches him with a spinning heel kick. They trade tripping each other until Bigelow grabs Jericho from the outside, pulling Jericho out with him and slamming him into the guardrail. Bigelow gets back in the ring with Konnan, tie-up, Bigelow gets Konnan into the corner, Irish whip, but Konnan kicks Bigelow when he charges in. Konnan goes off the ropes and clotheslines Bigelow out of the ring, but Jericho comes off the top turnbuckle with an attack on Konnan. Cover, but it gets a two count. Kick to the head by Jericho, Irish whip, reversed, and Konnan nails a powerbomb for a two count. Dropkick by Konnan, he goes off the ropes, but Bigelow grabs him from the outside. Jericho then connects on a baseball slide to the back of Bigelow's head, he goes for the pescado, but Bigelow moves out of the way. Bigelow brings Jericho back into the ring with him and levels him with a clothesline. Bigelow picks up Jericho and delivers a German suplex hold, but both of their shoulders are down and Jericho gets his up before the three count while Bigelow does not. Bigelow is eliminated from the match. Konnan comes off the top turnbuckle with a missile dropkick to Jericho's back, cover, but it gets a two count. Irish whip by Konnan to the corner, reversed, and Jericho hits a running clothesline. Irish whip by Jericho, but Konnan reverses it and hits a lariat. Cover, but it gets a two count. Irish whip by Konnan from the corner and he hits a backwards roll into a clothesline. Cover, but it gets another two count. Back up, waistlock by Konnan, Jericho reverses it and hits a fisherman's buster. Lionsault by Jericho, cover, but Konnan kicks out. Knee to the gut by Konnan, he goes for the Northern Lights Suplex, but Jericho reverses it with a German suplex for a two count. Clothesline by Konnan, he picks up Jericho and delivers a powerbomb for another close two count. Konnan picks up Jericho, drops him on his head with a crucifix powerbomb, and picks up the three count pinfall! Your winner: Konnan

Match Thoughts: A pretty disjointed match, to say it lacked flow or that it didn't have any ring psychology whatsoever would be an understatement. They did manage to work together a few times though, which was a plus, but when a match is short (around seven minutes) and still seems choppy then that could be a problem. The ending was pretty sick though, I don't know if Konnan meant to drop him like that, but it was certainly a convincing ending. Most of the matches on this card have had questionable endings.... this one did not. That's about the only compliment I can give it though, I'd rather have seen Konnan vs. Jericho and Bigelow doing something else. Score: 4.2

Jushin "Thunder" Liger vs. The Great Sasuke
They tie-up to start, Liger drives Sasuke back into the corner and he gives a clean break. Tie-up again, side headlock by Liger and he applies a wristlock. Sasuke reverses it, but Liger rolls out of it and trips Sasuke. Quick cover, but Sasuke easily kicks out and both me are back on their feet. An armbar is applied by Sasuke, but Liger reverses it with a reverse chinlock into a headscissors. Sasuke pushes his way out of the hold, but Liger quickly reapplies it. Armbar by Liger into another headscissors, but Sasuke does a handstand to get out of it. Sasuke applies a reverse chinlock on the mat and turns it into the Camel Clutch. Liger tries to reverse it, but the two get tangled in the ropes. Liger does not give a clean break though and he pulls Sasuke back into the middle of the ring before stretching Sasuke's back. Liger eventually releases the hold, Irish whip, and he nails the tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Now Liger applies the Camel Clutch to Sasuke and he goes back to the headscissors while going for the cross armbreaker. He finally gets it, but Sasuke quickly grabs the ropes. Sasuke rolls out of the ring, but after a moment he gets back in. Liger puts Sasuke in the corner so that he is straddling the ropes and dropkicks Sasuke in the face. Chop by Liger in the corner, Irish whip, and he nails the Liger Kick in the corner. Liger picks up Sasuke and delivers a release German suplex. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Brainbuster by Liger, he goes up to the top turnbuckle, but Sasuke avoids the flying headbutt. Sasuke stomps Liger, picks him up, scoop slam, he goes to the top turnbuckle and goes for the twisting body press, but Liger gets his knees up. Magistral's Cradle by Liger, but Sasuke kicks out. Liger goes off the ropes, but Sasuke does a cartwheel and delivers the body press for a two count. Back kick by Sasuke, Liger rolls out of the ring, and Sasuke sails out after him with a somersault senton suicida. Back in the ring, Irish whip by Sasuke, but Liger avoids the back kick. Sasuke ducks Liger's shotei, but he can't avoid the Liger Kick and Sasuke falls out of the ring. Liger goes up to the top turnbuckle and nails the plancha suicida down onto Sasuke. Liger gets back into the ring, but when Sasuke gets on the apron Liger grabs him. Liger goes for a suplex, Sasuke tries to reverse it, Liger blocks it, but Sasuke connects with a high kick to the head. Sasuke then climbs the top turnbuckle, but Liger recovers and joins him up top. Avalanche-style brainbuster by Liger, cover, but Sasuke barely kicks out. Liger goes to the top turnbuckle, but Sasuke is up in time and dropkicks him off. Liger falls to the outside, Sasuke goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick to the outside onto Liger (one of the sickest moves one can do, when you think about it). Sasuke gets back in first and kicks Liger as he re-enters the ring. Sasuke picks up Liger and goes for a suplex, but Liger grabs the top rope to block it. Sasuke goes for a powerbomb, but Liger gets out of it and nails the shotei. Fisherman's brainbuster by Liger, he picks up Sasuke and delivers the Liger Bomb. Cover, and he picks up the three count! Your winner: Jushin "Thunder" Liger

Match Thoughts: A perfectly fine match, I would have liked if they had gotten more time, but 12 minutes isn't bad. The crowd was really restless here, they had probably seen the Super J Cup match between these two and was expecting the same thing, only with just the high spots. Although I have to give Liger and Sasuke credit for still doing the obligatory New Japan-style opening mat work even though the crowd wasn't into it. Liger seemed to enjoy killing Sasuke here with the dropkick in the corner, Liger Kick, shotei, etc. but Sasuke held his own. I mentioned the missile dropkick to the outside... that move is far sicker then most other to-the-outside moves, for Sasuke isn't caught. He pretty much goes straight from the top turnbuckle to the exposed floor, barely grazing Liger with his outstretched foot. The match followed the pattern of the junior style in Japan during that time and while it wasn't as good as their Super J Cup match, it was still very entertaining. Score: 7.1

Antonio Inoki and Dan Severn vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Taktaraov
Severn and Taktaraov start things off. Single-leg takedown by Severn, but Taktaraov manages to get back to his feet. Both wrestler go for strikes with little result, takedown by Severn, but Taktaraov gets into the ropes and Severn gives a clean break. Severn goes for another single-leg, but Taktaraov steps out of the way. They jockey for position on the mat, but they get tangled in the ropes and the referee calls for a break. Back up, Taktaraov goes for an arm submission, but again they are too close to the ropes. Taktaraov tags in Fujiwara, who goes after Severn in the corner with a flurry of strikes. Severn gets free after a moment and takes Fujiwara to the mat before managing to tag in Inoki. Inoki gets Fujiwara into the corner, but Fujiwara reverses positions with him and hits a flurry of punches and kicks. The referee gets Fujiwara back, allowing Inoki to get to his feet. Tie-up, armbar by Inoki and he goes for the cross armbreaker, but Fujiwara gets out of it and applies a leg lock. Inoki eventually rolls his way to the ropes and Fujiwara has to break the hold. Fujiwara mounts Inoki and threatens to punch him, but he gets back off and allows Inoki to get to his feet. Kicks to the leg by Inoki and he tags in Severn. Severn knees Fujiwara into the corner, but Fujiwara reverses positions with him and connects on a few strikes. Severn takes Fujiwara to the mat, but Fujiwara picks him up and tags in Taktaraov. Waistlock by Taktaraov and he slams Severn to the mat before applying an ankle lock, but Severn makes it to the ropes. Both wrestlers try to land strikes with little success, Severn applies a waistlock and suplexes Taktaraov to the mat. Front facelock by Severn and he makes the tag to Inoki. Inoki goes for an overhead kick, but Taktaraov smartly moves out of the way. Taktaraov gets Inoki back into his corner and makes the tag to Fujiwara. Taktaraov doesn't leave quick enough though and Inoki kicks him back. Taktaraov comes back in the ring to be the legal man and Inoki punches him against the ropes. Taktaraov gets Inoki into his corner again and drives him back, tagging in Fujiwara in the process. Fujiwara kicks Inoki in the midsection, but Inoki connects on an enzigieri. Another enzigieri by Inoki and he tags in Severn. Severn puts Fujiwara over his head before slamming him shoulder-first to the mat, applies a keylock while Fujiwara's shoulders are on the mat, and Severn picks up the three count pinfall! Your winners: Antonio Inoki and Dan Severn

Match Thoughts: Well this match wasn't good at all. Severn was able to hold his own in special circumstances, but here he didn't look good since he wasn't against his ideal opponents. I have never seen a wrestler more lost in the ring then Taktaraov... he looked like he legitimately didn't know what was going on most the time and the confusion only became worse when he was in there with Inoki. Inoki was very over with the crowd, but he was not in the ring much and was in the ring against Fujiwara even less. The ending was sudden and strange, and the crowd hated it as they booed the next five minutes. Overall a really disappointing ending to the Peace Festical. Score: 3.0

Final Thoughts:

Up to the main event, the show was shaping up to be a very fun event. It had a few sub-par matches spread out here and there, but the majority of the matches were good and a few were near excellent. The final did put a damper on things a bit though, as it was not what the crowd wanted to see and put two old wrestlers in the ring with two inexperienced wrestlers... generally a bad idea. I wish that they had cut out a match or two and given the others more time, as the matches averaged only around 8 minutes long and the longest was around 12 minutes. Still, the Lucha Libre matches were all entertaining for one reason or another and the rest was generally unoffensive, so the event is still worth picking up if you can find it cheap.