Super World of Sports
Aired 11/17/91

Date: October 29th, 1991
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: Unknown

Ah, Super World of Sports. In 1991 the promotion appeared to have everything... a big money backer, an exchange deal with the WWF, great stars, and talented young wrestlers. But by mid-1992, the money backer was gone and slowly everything crumbled after it until the promotion itself disbanded with its members scurrying off in different directions to find a new home. But the promotion was not in vain, as over the two years they were in business they put on a number of entertaining events. Is this one of them? Let's find out! Here is the full match list for the card:

- Naoki Sano and Masao Orihara vs. The Orient Express (Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond)
- Akira Katayama vs. Tatsumi Kitahara
- Bestia Salvaje vs. Yoshihiro Asai
- King Haku and Shinji Nakano vs. Samson Fuyuki and Takashi Ishikawa
- George Takano vs. The Barbarian
- Ashura Hara vs. The Warlord
- Genichiro Tenryu vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu

Oh boy, even without looking people up I know who 90% of these wrestlers are. Fantastic. The entire DVD clocks in at under an hour and a half, so obviously some of these matches will be clipped or JIP. Hopefully not too much though, as some of these matches just have to be seen. Let's get started!

Naoki Sano and Masao Orihara vs. The Orient Express (Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond)
The Orient Express invade.... the Orient! Only fitting I guess, you should always invade the place you came from in the first place. JIP, as Tanaka applies a cross armbreaker to Sano. Sano gets to the ropes, Tanaka picks up Sano and makes the tag to Diamond. Clubs to the back by Diamond and Tanaka, and Diamond throws Sano into the corner. Irish whip by Diamond but Sano flips out of the corner and connects with a back kick. This gives him time to tag in Orihara, kick to the chest by Orihara, Irish whip, and Orihara delivers a dropkick. Orihara picks up Diamond, Irish whip, reversed, and this time Diamond hits a dropkick. Diamond pick up Orihara and throws him into the corner, Irish whip by Diamond, reversed, Diamond goes over Orihara and he goes for a hiptoss, it is blocked, but Diamond delivers a lariat. Kick to the stomach by Diamond, Irish whip, and he hits a sidewalk slam. Cover, but it gets a two count. Back up, Irish whip by Diamond and he goes for another one, but Orihara reversed it with a headscissors and dropkicks Diamond out of the ring. Orihara then goes up to the top turnbuckle and sails out onto Diamond with a moonsault. Orihara picks up Diamond and slides him back into the ring, scoop slam by Orihara in front of the corner and he goes up top, but Diamond moves out of the way of the diving body press and tags in Tanaka. Reverse chinlock by Tanaka but Orihara reaches the ropes. Kicks to the leg by Tanaka, he picks up Orihara and nails a savate kick. Orihara kips up however and dropkicks Tanaka, allowing him time to tag in Sano. Tanaka also tags in Diamond, but Sano hits him with a dropkick. Irish whip by Sano and he hits a back kick, he quickly puts Diamond onto the top turnbuckle and hits a DDT to the mat. Cover, but it gets a two count. Mexican Surfboard by Sano but Tanaka runs in to break it up. Sano tags in Orihara, kicks to the leg by Orihara and he goes for a single leg crab hold, but Diamond is too close to the ropes and gets the break. Scoop slam by Orihara, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a somersault kick. Cover, but Diamond kicks out. Irish whip by Orihara, reversed, and Diamond hits an atomic drop. He then drapes Orihara onto the top rope and Tanaka hit a Leapfrog Body Guillotine onto Orihara. Sano runs in and takes care of Tanaka however, sailing out of the ring onto him with a pescado. In the ring, Diamond picks up Orihara and nails the inverted suplex slam, cover, and he picks up the three count! Your winners: The Orient Express

Match Thoughts: Not sure how much was clipped, but I doubt we missed anything important. I haven't seen a lot of Paul Diamond, but he sucked here, as he even had trouble on one of the Irish whips and his offense was very one dimensional. Orihara was obviously trying, although maybe a bit too hard, as his high spots seemed out of place and weren't really sold for very long. Also, why he'd no sell a Tanaka savate kick is beyond me, as that was one of his signature moves. Course Orihara was young as hell back in 1991, so I'll forgive him and at least he was putting some effort into it. Sano really could have brought the match up, but he spent the bulk of it on the apron. Not particularly good. Score: 4.0

Akira Katayama vs. Tatsumi Kitahara
Katayama dropkicks Kitahara to start the match, sending him out of the ring. Scoop slam by Katayama on the outside and he jumps off the apron with a tope suicida. Katayama picks up Kitahara and throws him into the guard railing before sliding him back into the ring. Irish whip by Katayama and he delivers a dropkick. Katayama chokes Kitahara with his own shirt before the referee finally gets him off. Katayama picks up Kitahara, Irish whip, reversed, and Kitahara delivers a lariat. Stomps by Kitahara and he throws Katayama out of the ring. Kitahara follows him out and takes him up the rampway. Snap suplex by Kitahara on the ramp and he goes back into the ring to wait for Katayama. Katayama eventually finds his way back into the ring but Kitahara kicks him in the leg. Kick to the chest by Kitahara and he stomps Katayama in the head. Kick to the chest by Kitahara and he punches Katayama in the head. Kitahara picks up Katayama and nails a stiff jumping piledriver, cover, but it gets a two count. Snap suplex by Kitahara, he picks up Katayama and goes for another piledriver, but Katayama reverses it with a back bodydrop. Katayama knees Kitahara in the leg and jumps down onto it before applying a knee lock. Kitahara gets out of the hold but Katayama slaps him repeatedly in the face. Kitahara comes back with a series of stiff kicks to Katayama's head (apparently he doesn't like getting slapped), and Katayama is bleeding from the mouth. Kitahara goes for another kick but Katayama catches his leg and hits a dragon screw leg whip. Single leg crab hold by Katayama and he reverts it into a modified Romero Special. Stomps by Katayama and he applies a figure four leglock in the middle of the ring. Kitahara reverses it, but Katayama gets in the ropes to force a break. Kicks to the leg by Katayama and he applies a single leg crab hold, but after a moment he releases it and picks Kitahara up. Irish whip by Katayama but Kitahara hangs onto the ropes and hits a lariat. Katayama is bleeding pretty good from the mouth as Kitahara picks him up, Irish whip, reversed, Kitahara gets behind Katayama but Katayama runs into the ropes to dump Kitahara to the outside. Katayama then gets a running start in the ring and sails out onto Kitahara with a tope suicida. Both wrestlers get back in the ring, Katayama picks up Kitahara and hits a series of uppercuts. Irish whip by Katayama and he hits an overhead belly to belly suplex, cover, but it gets a two count. German suplex hold by Katayama, but Kitahara gets a shoulder up. Katayama picks up Kitahara again and hits a few more uppercuts, but Kitahara sneaks in a backslide for a two count. Backdrop suplex by Kitahara, Katayama charges Kitahara but Kitahara nails a savate kick. DDT by Kitahara, he picks up Katayama and delivers a German suplex hold for the three count! Your winner: Tatsumi Kitahara

Match Thoughts: I had never seen Kitahara before, but he is one stiff son of a bitch. He must have been trained by Tenryu or something. Nothing he did looked soft, with the piledriver and the kick that busted open Katayama's mouth being particularly nasty. But I applaud him for it, because since I knew neither guy I really didn't care who won, and he really kept me into it as I watched to see if the beaten up Katayama could overcome Kitahara's apparent awesomeness. The leg work was decent and sold during most of the match, even though it ultimately didn't effect the outcome of the match. At first I was nervous about an undercard match with two wrestlers I didn't know being shown in full, but it was actually quite entertaining. Score: 6.5

Bestia Salvaje vs. Yoshihiro Asai
Salvaje attacks Asai to start the match but Asai gets him back with a back kick. Another kick by Asai, he charges Salvaje but Salvaje hiptosses both of them over the top rope. They get back in the ring, Salvaje goes off the ropes and Asai hits a back bodydrop followed by a monkey flip. Asai goes for a second monkey flip by Salvaje catches him and puts him onto the top turnbuckle. Asai comes off with an overhead headscissors however and then hits another headscissors which sends Salvaje out of the ring. Salvaje returns after a moment and kicks Asai into the corner, Salvaje charges Asai but Asai flips him over the top rope to the floor. Asai then gets onto the top turnbuckle and sails out onto Salvaje with a plancha, banging his knee on the ground in the process. Asai shakes it off and gets back into the ring, and he dropkicks Salvaje as he gets on the apron. He tries to do it again, but his time Salvaje moves and hits a missile dropkick from the top turnbuckle for a two count. Asai picks up Salvaje, snapmare, and he applies a crossface hold. Headscissors by Asai and Salvaje rolls out of the ring to re-group. After a moment he gets back into the ring, Irish whip by Salvaje, but Asai rolls through it. Salvaje throws Asai into the corner but Asai hits a body press out of the corner and follows it with a cartwheel elbow strike against the ropes. Salvaje rolls out of the ring but returns after a moment, Salvaje goes off the ropes but Asai catches him with a dropkick. Back kick by Asai, Salvaje rolls out of the ring but Asai goes out to the apron and hits a beautiful Asai Moonsault! Salvaje slowly recovers and gets back on the apron, and Asai suplexes him into the ring for a two count cover. Scoop slam by Asai and he goes up to the top turnbuckle, Salvaje rolls out of the way of the moonsault attempt but Asai lands on his feet. Salvaje trips up Asai as he charges him and applies La Magistral for a two count. Asai picks up Salvaje and hits a backdrop suplex, cover, but it gets a two count. Snapmare by Asai and he applies a camel clutch. After a moment Salvaje reaches the ropes, forcing a break. Dropkick by Salvaje, Asai falls out of the ring, Salvaje goes up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a plancha suicida down to the floor. Salvaje gets back in the ring but Asai recovers and applies a Victory Roll for a two count. Salvaje goes off the ropes and they collide in the middle of the ring. Powerbomb by Salvaje, but it only gets a two count. Scoop slam by Salvaje, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a senton. Cover, but it gets a two count. Salvaje throws Asai into the corner and applies a stretch submission, but Asai gets a foot on the ropes to force a break. Back up, Irish whip by Salvaje but Asai hits a quebrada off the ropes. Asai picks up Salvaje and hits an Aztec German Suplex Hold for the three count! Your winner: Yoshihiro Asai

Match Thoughts: Yoshihiro Asai is a young Ultimo Dragon, and Bestia Salvaje at one point in time was a major heel in CMLL. This was basically the Asai Show, as Salvaje was merely an afterthought as Asai did every high flying move that he could think of. The ending was flat because Salvaje had just been winning when Asai did two quick moves for the victory, as if they had a set amount of time they planned on using and were going to the finish regardless of whether it made sense or not. Asai was very fluid with his moves and the Lucha Libre influence was obvious, but there just wasn't any story or meaning behind anything and it came across more of an exhibition then a match. Score: 5.0

King Haku and Shinji Nakano vs. Samson Fuyuki and Takashi Ishikawa
JIP, with Fuyuki on the top turnbuckle and Nakano standing in the ring. Haku shakes the ropes to distract Fuyuki, allowing Nakano time to recover and throw him off. Nakano goes for a leg drop but Fuyuki rolls out of the way. Fuyuki tags in Ishikawa, who hits Nakano with a vertical suplex for a two count. Ishikawa picks up Nakano and hits a scoop slam but Haku runs in the ring and chops him before he can apply the crab hold. After a moment Haku leaves the ring as Ishikawa tags in Fuyuki, and Fuyuki delivers a seated senton off the top turnbuckle for a two count. Irish whip by Fuyuki but Nakano kicks him in the chest and tags in Haku. Fuyuki goes off the ropes but a lariat has no effect on Haku, Irish whip by Fuyuki and the heel kick knocks Haku off his feet. Fuyuki tags in Ishikawa and Ishikawa hits a DDT, cover, but it gets a two count. Ishikawa picks up Haku and tags Fuyuki back in, Irish whip by Ishikawa to the corner and Fuyuki hits a lariat. Ishikawa delivers a lariat as well, Fuyuki goes up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a diving Lou Thesz Press for a two count. Nakano comes in the ring and dropkicks Fuyuki, sending him out of the ring. Ishikawa grabs Nakano and they brawl at ringside, then Ishikawa comes in the ring and knocks down Haku with a lariat. Fuyuki goes up to the top turnbuckle and dives off, but Haku catches him with a powerslam and picks up the three count! Your winners: King Haku and Shinji Nakano

Match Thoughts: Clearly heavily clipped to the point that there is no real way to rate the match, but from what they showed it was fine. All four men were hitting hard, which is always a plus, and it is always a pleasure to see Haku (also Meng in WCW) in a match. Nothing bad in the short bit that was shown, but way too little to get a good feel on how the match was. Score: N/A

George Takano vs. The Barbarian
JIP, as Barbarian hits Takano with a lariat. Chops to the throat by Barbarian, he picks up Takano and delivers another short-armed lariat. Sleeper hold by Barbarian but Takano gets to his feet and elbows out of it. Takano goes off the ropes but Barbarian kicks him in the stomach. Stomps by Barbarian, he sits up Takano and re-applies the sleeper. Again Takano gets to his feet and this time throws Barbarian to the mat, he goes off the ropes but Barbarian catches him with the big boot. Cover, but it gets a two count. Chops to the back of the head by Barbarian, he goes off the ropes and delivers an elbow drop. Barbarian picks up Takano, Irish whip, but Takano avoids the big boot and hits a German suplex hold for a two count. Dropkick by Takano and he hits a heel kick, sending Barbarian into the corner. Takano goes up top and hits a twisting crossbody, he then applies the victory roll and picks up the three count! Your winner: George Takano

Match Thoughts: George Takano was best known as his work as "The Cobra" in the 1980s for New Japan. Again, very clipped, but what they showed was pretty bad. Barbarian really is only good when he can beat people up and no sell their pathetic offense, but all he did in the part they showed was a few poorly-applied sleepers and a pair of boots, neither of which looked that devastating. I guess the only way Takano was winning was with a flash pin, so that was fine, and at least he got a string of offense off first to weaken up Barbarian. Too clipped to rate, but not very good. Score: N/A

Ashura Hara vs. The Warlord
Tie-up, side headlock by Warlord, Hara Irish whips out of it but Warlord shoulderblocks it down. Warlord goes off the ropes but Hara hits him with a lariat, Hara hits him with a second but Warlord still doesn't go down. A third and fourth don't do the trick either, but finally on the fifth lariat Warlord goes to the mat. Back up, tie-up, side headlock by Hara, Warlord Irish whips out of it and goes for a leapfrog, but Hara doesn't really duck so Warlord goes off his head and falls to the mat. Headbutt by Hara, Irish whip by Hara, reversed, leapfrog by Warlord and he slams Hara to the mat. Club to the chest by Warlord and he clubs Hara repeatedly in the back. Warlord picks up Hara and delivers a knee lift. Punches to the head by Warlord and he kicks Hara in the chest. Scoop slam by Warlord and goes for an elbow drop, Hara rolls out of the way, he then goes for a leg drop but Hara rolls out of the way again and hits a backdrop suplex. Another backdrop suplex by Hara and he delivers a third one. Cover, but Warlord kicks out with such force that it sends Hara out of the ring. Haku kicks Hara at ringside before sliding Hara back into the ring. Falling body slam by Warlord, cover, but it gets a two count. Warlord picks up Hara, Irish whip, and he hits a diving lariat. Cover, but again it gets two. Hara goes outside the ring but this time he fights off Haku. Hara goes back in the ring and hits Warlord with a series of chops, but Haku is still mad and he runs in the ring to attack Hara, causing the DQ. Your winner by disqualification: Ashura Hara

Match Thoughts: No one ever accused Warlord of being a good wrestler, but wrestling someone he wasn't familiar with surely didn't help. There is never an excuse for botching a leapfrog, but since Hara didn't even duck there was clearly a miscommunication. The ending was a bit lame, as Warlord didn't really need help at that moment and if you have to have a DQ at least make it because the wrestler needed saving. I felt bad for Hara as he is better then this, but he wanted to be in SWS so this is what he gets. Sub-par at best. Score: 3.5

Genichiro Tenryu vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu
Here we go, main event time. They circle each other to start, tie-up, but they break clean. They jockey for position in the ropes, Yatsu gets Tenryu into the corner but he gives a clean break. Slap to the ear by Yatsu, tie-up, Tenryu gets Yatsu into the ropes but Yatsu elbows him in the the ear. Irish whip by Yatsu and he delivers a dropkick, Tenryu fires back with a lariat but Yatsu floors him with a lariat of his own. Side headlock by Yatsu, Tenryu Irish whips out of it but Yatsu shoulderblocks him down. Side headlock again by Yatsu, Tenryu gets Yatsu into the ropes and chops Yatsu in the chest, but Yatsu comes back with an enzigieri. Yatsu goes back to the side headlock, Tenryu gets him into the ropes again but Yatsu elbows him back. Running bulldog by Yatsu and he stomps Tenryu in the head. Chop by Tenryu, Irish whip, he goes for a slam but Yatsu rolls him up for a two count. Leg drop by Yatsu and he kicks Tenryu in the jaw. Tenryu puts Yatsu into the corner and delivers a series of chops. Kicks to the face by Tenryu, Irish whip, and he hits a lariat. Cover, but it gets a two count. Enzigieri by Tenryu and he nails a powerbomb, cover, but it gets a two count. Another enzigieri by Tenryu, he goes for a scoop slam but Yatsu hits a trio of enzigieris of his own. Cover by Yatsu, but Tenryu gets a shoulder up. Yatsu waits for Tenryu to get up, scoop slam, and he hits a series of mounted punches. Enzigieri by Yatsu, slap by Tenryu but Yatsu fires back with elbows in the corner and slaps him down to the mat. Yatsu pulls Tenryu out of the ring with him and delivers a running bulldog onto the exposed floor. Yatsu then goes up on the apron and jumps down onto Tenryu with a diving tackle.

Yatsu goes back into the ring and waits for Tenryu, who eventually returns as well. Yatsu charges Tenryu as he gets in the ring and applies a sleeper, but he is in the ropes and the referee forces a break. Yatsu charges Tenryu but Tenryu catches him with a knee to the midsection and kicks him repeatedly. Chops by Tenryu and he kicks Yatsu in the chest before chopping him to the mat. Elbow drop by Tenryu, cover, but it gets a two count. Back up, knee by Tenryu and more kicks to the face as Yatsu crumbles back to the mat. Elbow drop by Tenryu, cover, but again it only gets two. Octopus Hold by Tenryu but Yatsu makes it to the ropes to force a break. Tenryu approaches Yatsu but Yatsu headbutts Tenryu and hits a... well, jawbreaker to the head. Yatsu goes to the top turnbuckle and delivers a diving headbutt to a standing Tenryu, cover, but it gets a two count. Yatsu picks up Tenryu and hits a backdrop suplex for a two count cover. Lariat by Yatsu, cover, but Tenryu gets a shoulder up. Tenryu is up quickly and delivers a series of chops, but Yatsu ducks one and hits a German suplex hold for a two count. Yatsu picks up Tenryu and goes for another suplex, Tenryu blocks it, so Yatsu hits a powerbomb for another two. Yatsu goes up to the top turnbuckle but Tenryu moves out of the way of the diving elbow drop. Enzigieri by Tenryu, he picks up Yatsu and goes for a powerbomb but Yatsu blocks it. Slaps to the face by Tenryu, he picks up Yatsu again and this time he delivers the powerbomb. Cover, and he picks up the three count! Your winner: Genichiro Tenryu

Match Thoughts: It started a little slow, but it picked by the end and it turned into an entertaining match. Tenryu's matches are very different then most others and its a nice change of pace. Tenryu does a great job at the "out cold" sell, which Yatsu gave him plenty of opportunities to use as he was beating Tenryu as it he owed him money and wouldn't pay. Tenryu's offense to me has never looked very crisp but it has enough impact to get the job done. The ending was good as Tenryu had Yatsu thoroughly beat and almost out of it even before the powerbomb. Overall it was a perfectly fine match and a fitting main event to a decent show. Score: 7.0

Final Thoughts:

Not an unwatchable event, as it stayed decent enough to keep me interested. Even though the WWF participation was what I was most looking forward to, it was the native's matches that entertained as the Kitahara/Katayama match and the main event were both very good. Asai's match was a perfect way to exhibit his talents but it wasn't really a regular match, and the WWF wrestlers didn't add anything to the event as their matches were clipped and not very good. I'll mildly recommend it since there were some solid matches and it was interesting to see the WWF stars mix it up with the SWS stars, but there was nothing "must see" here and the event was too clipped to give a full recommendation.

Mildly Recommended

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event reviewed on 6/8/08