Mr. Danger Mitsuhiro Matsunaga vs Kendo Nakasaki
YOKOHAMA AMAZON RIVER PIRANHA DEATH MATCH
http://www.bigjapanshop.com/blood-amp-death-history-bjw-dvd-box-set.htmlSpecial Bout Review for BJW by Harold Williams c2011
In this review, we will look at Kendo Nagasaki vs. Mr. Danger Mitsuhiro Matsunaga from August 19, 1996 in a, "Yokohama Amazon River Piranha Deathmatch". Hardcore wrestling and controversy tend to go hand in hand. Moments that shock the pro-wrestling industry, while also being innovative and setting the bar. This match was a great example of that. Barbed wire boards were placed in the corners of the ring, and in the middle of it- a tank containing piranhas. The winner would be the wrestler who was able to hold their opponent in the tank for ten seconds. It was a specialty match that had never previously been done, nor had ever been conceived.
The ironic aspect of this match is that even though the central part of it was the piranha tank and mere mention of it is enough to paint a nightmarish image in one's mind, it was only a small part of this match. There were many exciting deathmatch spots during this match, which the piranha tank played no part in. The piranha tank was merely a bonus aspect to an already exhilarating match. The two wrestlers who participated in this match were two talents who are not just recognized for their matches in BJW, but outside of it as well. Nagasaki wrestled in WCW using the name, "The Dragonmaster" before his involvement with BJW. Matsunaga wrestled in ECW before coming to BJW.
At the start of the match, Nagasaki and Matsunaga circled each other, glancing down at the piranhas that awaited their unfortunate victim. Nagasaki gained an early advantage by kicking Matsunaga in the stomach after feigning a locking attempt, and then placing him in a side headlock. After unsuccessfully attempting to break out of it, Matsunaga managed to make his way into the ropes, and Nagasaki then broke the hold. Matsunaga then came at Nagasaki with roundhouse and shoot kicks, battering him to a corner. Once Nagasaki was sitting on the mat, Matsunaga delivered a stomp to his back, and then stood on the second rope to stomp on his head and corner foot choke him.
When Nagasaki was able to escape the corner, he hit Matsunaga with kicks of his own to Matsunaga's leg, dropping him to the mat. After hitting Matsunaga with a couple of stomps, Nagasaki picked him up from the mat and brought him over to the piranha tank. As Nagasaki tried to force Matsunaga into it, Matsunaga held on to the top of the tank. Nagasaki eventually let go of him, and kicked Matsunaga in the ribs. Once he got back to his feet, Nagasaki sent him back to the mat again by hitting him with a kick to the chest and a forearm to the back. Nagasaki then continued with kicks to Matsunaga's chest and head, and a knee to the side of his head.
Nagasaki then stood Matsunaga up, placed a hammerlock on him, and led him towards one of the barbed wire boards. Matsunaga placed one of his feet up against the board to prevent Nagasaki from bringing him closer to it. When Matsunaga eventually removed his foot so that he could hit Nagasaki with knees to the right arm in attempt to break the
hammerlock, Nagasaki let him go and nailed him with two forearms. Matsunaga fell backwards into the barbed wire board and immediately felt pain from the sharp wire digging into him.
Nagasaki began pushing Matsunaga further into the wire with his hands, and then with his foot, until the board began to break into two pieces. Matsunaga fell to the mat in a sitting position, one half of the board under him, and the other half on top of him. Nagasaki stood on top of the board, putting Matsunaga in an excruciating barbed wire sandwich.
After Nagasaki got off the board and Matsunaga was finally able to remove himself from the mess of barbed wire, Nagasaki continued his assault with stomps to Matsunaga's left arm and back, and then slapped on a leg lock. In a true display of integrating psychology in such a unique deathmatch, the leg lock wasn't being used as a submission, it was instead being used to weaken him, so that when Nagasaki would attempt to hold Matsunaga in the piranha tank, it would be more difficult for him to resist going in. The legs represent 60 percent of the human body's strength.
After releasing the hold, Nagasaki gave Matsunaga a stomp to the back, brought him to his feet, and led him over to the piranha tank. Eyes filled with fear, Matsunaga grabbed hold of the top of the tank, jumped over it, and rolled out of harm's way. Not wanting him to have even a moment to catch his breath, Nagasaki followed Matsunaga, brought him to his feet, and pushed him back first into a barbed wire board. Matsunaga made a comeback by raking Nagasaki's eyes twice, hitting him with a standing axe kick (which was amazing, considering the fact Nagasaki was still standing at the time and is the taller of the two), and a series of shoot kicks.
Feeling that Nagasaki was now sufficiently weakened enough, Matsunaga brought him over to the piranha tank. Despite his resistance, Matsunaga managed to force the the top of Nagasaki's head into the water, but only for a few seconds. Nonetheless, it was enough time to scare Nagasaki back into action, as he escaped from Matsunaga's grasp with a forearm shot to the back. Nagasaki then tossed Matsunaga through the second rope out to the floor. Nagasaki followed Matsunaga to the outside, threw him into a chair in the front row, and then threw 3 chairs (that connected to each other), on top of Matsunaga. The middle chair struck him on top of his head, opening a cut.
After bringing Matsunaga back into the ring, Nagasaki attempted to push him into the piranha tank again. As Matsunaga's head was forced downward towards the water, blood from his cut poured into it. Piranhas sense blood in water, and when they do, they tend to attack the larger animal- which would not be a good situation for Matsunaga to be in. Although Nagasaki was able to put Matsunaga head into the water a number of times, he wasn't able to keep it there for ten seconds. Nagasaki eventually let Matsunaga go, who fell to the mat.
Nagasaki continued his assault with a stomp to Matsunaga's back, and then stood him up to deliver a punch to the back that sent Matsunaga out of the ring. Nagasaki followed him to the outside, but was met with a series of kicks to the chest and stomach. Matsunaga then picked up a barbed wire board that was on the floor, and bashed Nagasaki over the head with it. Matsunaga then threw the board on top of Nagasaki and jumped on top of it, pressing the sharp wire into him. Matsunaga made further use of the board by placing the edge of it against Nagasaki's neck and choking him with it.
Keeping the momentum, Matsunaga brought Nagasaki to his feet and rammed him into a ringpost, shoulder first. Matsunaga went on to ram Nagasaki's head into a ringside table, followed by delivering a chairshot to the back, sending him to the floor. When Nagasaki got back to his feet, Matsunaga delivered a roundhouse kick, but Nagasaki returned with a kick of his own, a chop to Matsunaga's chest, and then threw him down headfirst onto the leg of a table that was lying on it's side. Nagasaki followed up by picking up the table and throwing it down on top of Matsunaga, who was lying face down on the floor.
Staying in control, Nagasaki picked up the same chair that he had been hit with moments earlier, and whacked Matsunaga in the back with it twice, causing him to writhe on the floor in pain. Nagasaki went on to bring Matsunaga to his feet and throw him into rows of empty chairs (many fans in attendance had left their seats in an effort to get out of the way of the heated brawl), and then picked up the table and hurled it at Matsunaga's head as he tried to get back to his feet, which made contact with a loud crack. As more blood began to flow from Matsunaga's cut, Nagasaki then threw 3 connected chairs onto Matsunaga. The referee attempted to intervene at this point, as it was apparent that Nagasaki didn't plan on taking the match back into the squared circle. Ignoring the referee, he began leaning his 260 pound frame into the chairs, adding pressing onto Matsunaga.
Finally heeding the referee's instruction, Nagasaki reentered the ring. However, he brought the chair that he had been using earlier into the ring with him. When the bloody Matsunaga finally crawled into the ring, he was met with a chairshot to the back, and when he attempted to make it to his feet, was hit with a chairshot to the head, which landed him on his back. Matsunaga then rolled out of the ring to recover from the onslaught. Nagasaki grabbed a barbed wire board that was in a corner of the ring and put it on top of the piranha tank, barbed wire side up. He then pulled Matsunaga into the ring, kicked him in the chest, and then pressed his body onto the wire, the edges piercing Matsunaga's stomach and chest as he yelled in pain. This was very innovative on Nagasaki's part, seeing the tank as being useful for more than just the piranhas that it contained.
Nagasaki went on to remove Matsunaga from the barbed wire board and kicked him in the face, but Matsunaga returned with kicks of his own to Nagasaki's chest and back, sending him to the mat. Matsunaga then maintained his momentum by stomping on Nagasaki's head. Still in control, Matsunaga brought Nagasaki to his feet and rammed him headfirst into the barbed wire board that was still on top of the piranha tank, and then nailed him in the back with roundhouse and axe kicks, followed by shoot kicks to the chest. With Nagasaki now slumped in a corner, Matsunaga, ready to finish him off, uncovered the piranha tank, brought Nagasaki over, and tried to force him into it. However, Nagasaki held on to the top of the tank, and kept his legs draped over it as well. Matsunaga eventually let him go and hit him in the back with an axe kick.
Nagasaki appeared to become desperate at this point, reaching into the piranha tank and splashing water at Matsunaga, but he began to mount a decent defense after Matsunaga punched him in the head. Nagasaki delivered a kick to the stomach and a chop to the chest, leading to the two men trading forearm shots. Nagasaki gained the upper hand and tried to toss Matsunaga over the top rope, to no avail. Matsunaga fell to the mat and rolled onto the apron, where Nagasaki stomped on his head three times, sending him to the floor.
Nagasaki followed Matsunaga to the outside, and threw him back into the ring. Nagasaki then bodyslammed Matsunaga to the mat, picked up a barbed wire board, and delivered a big splash, holding the board in front of him, wire side facing outward. Ready to finish Matsunaga off, Nagasaki picked him up from the mat and delivered a powerbomb, holding Matsunaga in a prawn hold for a few moments. Nagasaki then hit Matsunaga with a jumping piledriver, before bringing him to his feet forcing him all the way into the piranha tank. The piranhas went into a frenzy, and the bell rang, signaling Nagasaki as being the winner. Matsunaga was in obvious pain, and when he was finally able to escape, it could be seen that although Matsunaga was in the tank for mere seconds, the piranhas had enough time to chew a bleeding hole in his chest.
Don't wait, visit the Big Japan Shop right now to order the
Blood & Death History BJW DVD Box Set! Not only will you see Kendo Nagasaki vs Mr. Danger Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, but you will also see 37 other unbelievable matches featuring other Kings of the Deathmatch, such as Ryuji Ito, Daisuke Sekimoto, Jaki Numazawa, Abdullah Kobayashi, Shadow WX, and many more!
Harold Williams
http://www.myspace.com/haroldwilliams
