Arts Movie Reviews

The word about the horrible announcing on other FMW tapes , they are actually good this time and Lovranski doesn't look like such a hippie any more and there is not that many stupid replays as other tapes , anyways down to the matches:

1. Wing Kanemura vs. Mike Awesome (Title for title match)- This is a title unification match of Brass Knux title and Independent title. The beginning was pretty slow where mike gets his foot stuck in ropes and win beats on him and leg rest holds but later is where the real action starts, bloody,brutal,tables,chairs what a war. Great match

2. Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka-Amazing! if youve seen their matches in ECW like Heatwave 98 or N2R 99' in my opinion this one blows it away! Even crazier spots with tables in this one.

3. Masato Tanaka vs. Mr. Ganosuke- WOW, a bloody sickening war where Ganosuke at one point takes the jagged part of a broom stick starts stabbing Tanaka in the arm to make him bleed. Exciting match in all .

4. Mr. Ganosuke vs. Hayabusa- I thought it would be better by the buildup of old best college friends , anyways pretty nice moves here.
5. Hayabusa vs. Kodo Fuyuki- Worst match on the tape , too many rest holds, Hayabusa pulls off some nice aerial moves to give the match some stars and Kodo almost kills Hayabusa with huge impact moves but what a horrible ending. anyways

Overall a great compilation but they should have put a bonus match anyways great FMW action. Highly recommended to anyone!

this is the best wrestling action i have ever seen every match from the beginning to end deserves 5* well except for the first one where mike awesome gets his leg stuck in the ropes. Definatly worth the money everymatch is 5* quality

THE BEST FMW DVD EVER MADE! The matches were full length, they included some of FMW's best wrestlers, and they were full of action.

Mike "Gladiator" Awesome VS Kintaro (Yukihiro) Kanemura: 3 1/2 *
This match was the worst on the disc, which makes it not bad. It was slow near the beginning when Awesome goes for a tope suicida (he gets caught in the ropes). Awesome wins w/ an Awesome Bomb to Kanemura for the 1,2,3.

Mike "Gladiator" Awesome VS Masato Tanaka: 4 3/4 *
2nd best on the disc. Sweet action (Awesome actually hits the tope suicida this time). Tanaka wins w/ a Roaring Elbow.

Masato Tanaka VS Mr. Gannosuke (Masashi Honda): 4 1/2 *
Good match. Lots of blood. Sweet power moves (mostly powerbombs). Gannosuke wins w/ a Gannosuke Clutch (an armbar w/ waistlock into front rolling cradle w/ leg hook). Sweet pin.

Mr. Gannosuke VS Hayabusa (Eiji Ezaki): 5 *
The best match I ever saw. Well fought and well thought out. Hayabusa wins w/ a Phoenix Splash (Twisting Senton into 450 splash).

Hayabusa VS Kodo (Hiromuchi) Fuyuki: 3 3/4 *
Fuyuki wins w/ a stiff Lariat. Not the best match in the world.

The extras are pretty good too. I didn't really watch Masato Tanaka VS Kanemura 'cuz it didn't sound very good. The Hayabusa VS Hisakatsu Oya match was OK.
Overall, this DVD was great. A must buy.

If you've never seen Japanese wrestling, this is a good DVD to break you in. Masato Tanaka wrestled for a short time in ECW, so he's familiar to US fans. He squares off against another familiar face, that of current WWF big man Mike Awesome. You'll notice how reserved and respectful Japanese fans are, and how much they really care for wrestling. Tanaka's a flat out hard worker, and puts his all into every match. Just look at the scars on his body for proof.

FMW is a solid Japanese federation, and Masato Tanaka is easily one of the best wrestlers in Japan today. His matches against the Wing group are amazing. He defends the honor of FMW against the group for Hayabusa, whom was injured. Watch as Tanaka repeatedly defies all odds, going to war against Hido, Mr. Ganosuke, Kanemura, and more. Every match on the DVD is great. The commentary overpowers the action a bit, but it's not too bad. The amount of matches makes up for it. The photo gallery is neat, too, letting you learn about different wrestlers in FMW. For a non-WWF DVD, this is a pretty solid choice, and probably the best out of the FMW series. If you call yourself a big wrestling fan, you should take a chance and buy this. If you're like me, you'll be waiting for Tanaka to show up in the WWF.

This was the first FMW video I ever saw, and I wasn't disappointed one bit. "The Enforcer" is a fast, violent and often funny 90-minute shoot compilation of Masato Tanaka, one of the biggest bump-taking superstars in Japanese hardcore wrestling.

The story, told under the rather humorous weavings of announcers Dan "The Mouth" Lovranski and John "Straight Up" Watanabe, begins with the legendary Hayabusa being forced out of FMW by the ruthless W*NG faction, which includes Bad Boy Hido, Hideki Hosaka, "Mr. Dangerously" Natsunaga, and of course, W*NG Kanemura, all of whom are determined to turn W*NG into the ruling group. But out of the shambles, an ardent Tanaka refuses to take this lying down; he takes the stand and leads the face off against W*NG with the aid of FMW rookies Tetsuya Kuroda, Ricky Fuji, and Koji Nakagawa, in two no-weapons barred matches set in a steel cage and then in a double-hell barbed wire ring where two opposing ring ropes and two opposing floors are loaded with electrifying explosions! The steel cage match is edited fairly weakly, and has confused camera angles abound, so it gets ***. But the double-hell match is classic, with virtually everyone (except, in fact, for the title hero) going down onto the explosions at least once! Check out Hosaka and Kanemura's spots as the fire and sparks engulf their every bit, and you'll see why this gets ****1/2!

The best match, of course, is the one where the 236-pound Tanaka buffs up against 300-something Mike Awesome, the double champion of the Independent World and Brass Knux Titles. Watch Awesome leap into the air, cave in steel chairs on Tanaka's noodle, and Awesome-bomb Mr. Dangan ("The Bullet") through two tables! Watch too, as Tanaka takes all the hits, grabs Awesome with all his might, and lobs him everywhere, whether it be the ring or to a table outside the squared circle, all in a successful crusade to win the titles! This thriller gets *****+!

The mid-way is the weakest element of the tape, as we are treated to learn about Tanaka's departure and then his return back to FMW. His return is marked by two quick squash matches against Nakagawa and Hido, and both get ** because they're way too short despite the entertainment. Still, here we learn that his new somersault neckbreaker, Diamond Dust, has now become his most powerful maneuver.

The closing match of the story, though, once again rebounds your excitement for Masato Tanaka, as he takes on the deadly FMW technician Mr. Ganosuke, as well as sneaky guest ref Fuyuki to earn the Independent World Title. The heat for this match is wild as Ganosuke practices hundreds of submission lockdowns and piledrivers on Tanaka's head. But Tanaka darts back, launches the Diamond Dust, and escapes with victory again! This match gets ****1/2.

There is, in fact, one more match in the tape. After the credits roll, you'll be treated to a hardcore-less battle between Tanaka and Kanemura, back in the days before they were to be rival enemies. It's a very decent wrestling bout, and deserves ***.

So Tajeri Lynn the Extremo Luchadore advises you to get this tape. Never mind that the announcers are so goofy that they make mistakes and weird catch-phrases ("Stick that one up your pipe and smoke it, Mr. WatanaBE!"). "The Enforcer: the Best of Tanaka" promises that you will respect Masato's hard road to honor, even if that road demands he needs a hard head.

After only seeing two previus matches with Hayabusa(With Tanaka agaist Terry Funk and Mr. Pogo and with Shinsaki against Van Dam and Sabu) I figured I'd spend the money to learn more about him. I'm glad I did as the 3 matches on this DVD are all great,and the awful commentary I heard so much about on FMW DVD's seems to be a thing of the past. Plus the mini interview with Hayabusa and where he got his moves from was very good. Definatley worth the price for any wrestling fan.

This is the best Tokyopop FMW DVD release yet. The bad jokes and stupid stories that the announcing team told in the previous Tokyopop releases are gone, replaced by straight-forward and informative commentary. I salute Tokyopop for listening to the complaints of the fans in regards to the commentary and correcting this problem.

As for the DVD itself- you get 3 great Hayabusa matches, a long video introduction showing highlights of him performing his most popular moves, and interesting stories telling you the background of each match. The matches are in crystal-clear DVD quality, with great stereo sound too. I'd recommend this to any wrestling fan, whether you are a long-time Hayabusa fan or are just curious to see how great a wrestler he is.

This is a great introduction to Hayabusa of FMW fame. This makes ECW:The Best Of Cactus Jack look like any Triple-H profile video.

First up is a highlight reel of Hayabusa's signature moves including the Firebird Splash(450 splash),Pheonix Splash(backflip into a 450 splash),the Falcon Arrow(suplex into a Michinoku Driver), numerous dives to the outside,Fisherman Bomb(Fisherman DDT/the "Franchise's" Pitsberg Plunge)and the Shooting Star Press.
This features a tournament to see who will face the Evil Mr. Ganosuke for the FMW Undisputed Double Titles.
Next is a tournament match with Masato Tanaka vs. Hayabusa.
a five star match in it self. This alone is worth the price of the VHS/DVD. Hayabusa wins with the Falcon Arrow.

The next segment is Hayabusa's visit to a temple to keep his skills sharpend.

The next match is Hayabusa vs. Mike Awesome
Mike Awesome is one of the only guys that I have seen get a clean pinfall on Hayabusa. Hayabusa beats him after a Dragon/Fullnelson suplex. great match with some cool spots. Five stars.

Next we have the history of the Hayabusa vs. Mr. Ganosuke. It is as personal as a war gets. These two start out as friends training togather then Gannosuke turns his back on Hayabusa and FMW.

Main event time
FMW Double titles
Mr. Ganosuke vs. Hayabusa
I won't spoil it for any of you, but these guys pull out all the stops and use their entire arsensel on one-another. yet another great matchup to end the Tape/DVD of Hayabusa.

I highly recomend this for any fan of Japanese wrestling or a fan who wants to know the scoop on Hayabusa.

First off this was the fisrt time I have ever watched FMW so im not one to judge but if this is the best FMW has to offer its pretty bad, There where more bad matches then good and the commentary was terrible, I cant even start on how bad the commentary was. There was a good match Matsunaga vs Mr.Pogo that had tables, chairs and some sort of knife but it still wasint a 5 star match.

I am probably going to buy an other FMW DVD just to give it a fair try out but so far it seems terrible and I woulldent recommend this FMW tape.

i have only seen 3 of the matches and just those 3 make this a 5* dvd

i have only watched 3 of the matches the main event the masato tanaka match and the first one (forgot there names) and just those 3 make this a 5* dvd

You can go read my review of Crash N' Burn and get the same feel for this DVD...average. I'm not saying don't buy these products only because whatever exposure American wrestling fans can get to the Japanese product is a positive one. It's really scary to watch the Gladiator vs. Falcon match and see how silent the crowd is out of respect. Oh, and if you thought those ...american announcers couldn't get worse, you're wrong. They spend considerable time in their commentaries calling each other transvestites and gay. It really blends with the wrestling. Overall, the matches are ok, but not on the level I want when I purchase a Japanese wrestling DVD.

If its bloodshed and highflying wrestling your looking for this DVD is for you.Those who are new to japanese wrestling this is the DVD you need to pick up,despite Tokyopops poor production and stupid commetators.But the Matches make up for it with the exception of the bonus match between Matsunaga and Horace Boulder.The Hayabusa/Mike Awesome match for the FMW World Brass Knuckles Title is worth the price of the DVD alone.I highly recommend this DVD!

It's really gonna hit the fan when anger erupts and grudges are settled. It's all about the quest for victory and nobody will stand in the way! Who will be left standing in the heat of battle? It's gonna take more than a dentist to fix Matsunaga when the psychopathic Super Leather breaks out the iron toothbrush:

Leatherface beat Mitsuhiro Matsunaga (15:04) via KO in a "Bed Of Nails Death Match."

Egos are bruised and hell is raised as Ricky. Fuji teams up with Ooya to take on Fujiwara and Ideda:

Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Daisuke Ikeda beat Ricky Fuji & Hisakatsu Ooya (12:33) to win the FMW World Brass Knuckles Tag Team Titles

Watch the sparks fly when Megumi Kudo teams up with her archrival Shark Tsuchiya in a tag team match that will leave you blazin.' And it's the ultimate grudge match when Hayabusa takes on Mike "Gladiator" Awesome in the Grand Slam Title Match:

Mike Awesome beat Hayabusa (23:38) to win the FMW World Title Tournament.

This DVD has some great matches, with all the sick bumps you hardcore wrestling fans wanna see. A must buy.

Only two of the matches are shown in their entirety, Tanaka/Fuyuki and H/Gannosuke. The other matches are all clipped. The two unclipped matches are excellent, and I can recognize that a major chunk of time had to be devoted to recapping the Hayabusa/Gannosuke fued, but the tape should have been extended to two and a half hours (it clocks in under two) and a couple of more matches (such as the ECW ones, which could have been used a selling point in the U.S.) shown in full. As such, I can only recommend it with reservations.

The clipping didn't bother me all that much. The Kanemura/ Balls Mahoney hardcore match was unbeleivable, the Kanemura Gullotine leg drop from the scaffold was insane. I am a big fan of Japanese wrestling and of the Heart Break Kid himself. That's right HBK is the ref for the H/ Hayabusa II match. HayabusaII gets in the busness of HBK and gets some Sweet Chin Music for his troubles. H is the real Hayabusa and Hayabusa II is Mr. Ganosuke.Two Japanses guys got their butts handed to them against Terry and Dory Funk Jr, who dedicated the match to the late Bruiser Brody. Tanaka sends Kodo Fuyuki packing in a WEW World title 15,000 volt steel cage "looser leaves town" match with the Roaring Elbow. Then he puts Fuyuki in a garbage truck. Choco Ball Mukei, Ricky Fuji, and "Flying Kid" Ichhara w/ Saina(porn actress) beat Team No Respect w/ Ms. Arai in a 6-man tag team title ladder match. Jazz and two female wrestlers lost to a female Sabu and another Japanese woman. "Bad Boy" Hido gets his butt kicked by "The Bear Killer" Willy Willaims in a Mixed Martial Arts match. Why the hell was a MMA match on an FMW card. I don't care if the styles are intertwined of not just because they are doesn't meen they can have one on FMW's Tenth Anniversary card. This is about FMW not MMA.

this dvd has all the matches from the 10th anniversary show.
sadly within 40mins they show all the matches except 3...
tokyopop have made this dvd as more of an advert for the commercial video because they cut down a brilliant 4 hour show to a meesly 2 hour highlights reel.
lets hope in future they show the full events
apart from those gripes, its a great disc with 3 excellent full matches and good highlights albeit short

This was my first FMW video, and it wasn't too good.

- Crazy Boy vs. Ricky Fuji: Crazy Boy is the younger cousin of Super Crazy. There are only some highlights. Some nice high-flying moves and creative counters. Frankensteiner, twisting sunset-flips, brainbustersMost of it was clipped, though.
RATING: 1/2*

- Two porn stars go one-on-one: Both are really hot girls. Flying Kid Ichihara referees the match. This is the worst wrestling match I've ever seen. I myself could not picture a worse match in my mind. This is the worst match in the history of professional wrestling, and that covers a lot of ground. El Gigante/Giant Gonzalez, The Big Show, Mick Foley, Axl Rotten, even The Sandman could wrestle more technically-sound than this. They did a clothesline that was so terrible-looking, I'd have trouble putting it into words.
RATING: -9467694694697...Get the point?

- Six Person Tag Team Match: This is intergender. It features names like Chocoball Mukai, Emi Motogawa, Kaori Nakayama, and some others.
Again, highlights only. Not very good. A nice surfboard stretch, but otherwise it's bad.
RATING: 1/4*

- Samoan Gangsta Party vs. Sasaki & Hideki Hosaka: Eddie Fatu of the Gangsta team is Rikishi's cousin, and wears a Rikishi shirt. His partner is Matt E. Smalls. The Samoan Gangsta Party had a short stay in ECW, engaging in some matches against Mustafa Saed and New Jack, The Gangstas. This match is very bloody, but isn't that bad. There's some great spots. A chokeslam on a bunch of chairs. A tope through a table. A double chokeslam. A dive off of a ten-foot balcony. This one wasn't terrible.
RATING: *5/8

- Kintaro Kanemura vs. Ryuji Yamakawa: These two are both from Big Japan. The match is very bloody, but it's rather good. They brawl backstage and a light tube is broken over Kanemura's head. Back at ringside, a nice Fire Thunder Driver (Jumping Sitdown Piledriver [like Rikishi did in his 1999-early 2000 WWF days]) off the apron through a ringside table and an amazing senton bomb by Yamakawa off of a balcony through a table is also featured!!! Yamakawa uses his double underhook face plant twice, and the move is quite a cool sight to see. This was a good hardcore match.
RATING: **

- Mr. Gannosuke vs. Sabu: The match is rather short. Sabu gets in some of his usual slingshot/springboard spots, but the match ends when each uses a fireball against eachother. Ouch...the match was WAY too short and was way below my expectations.
RATING: 1/2*

- WEW World Heavyweight Title Match: Kodo Fuyuki vs. Koji Nakagawa(C): The match is very long, but it's also rather good. There's some brawling, and then some nice exchanges in the room. There's a lot of drama. A good match, but not great.
RATING: **7/8

- Hayabusa vs. Masato Tanaka: Before the match, Jinsei Shinzaki (Hakushi in the WWF) enters and sits in the crowd to watch. Tanaka enters first. He's a former ECW Champion who engaged in several incredible battles with Mike Awesome. Hayabusa then enters, and if you're wondering who he is, I'll tell you. Hayabusa is a spectacular athlete with a dark gimmick. His character is a combination of The Undertaker, Edge, Gangrel, Vampiro, Great Muta, and Yoshihiro Tajiri. He plays a mysterious character, but unlike most guys like that, he's an incredible fan favorite. The guy has tons of finishing moves, including the Stardust Press (Shooting Star Press), the Firebird Splash (450 Splash), the Phoenix Splash, the Falcon Arrow (Vertical Suplex into a sitdown bodyslam/piledriver), and the H Thunder (side bodyslam piledriver [Tommy Dreamer's Dreamer Driver]). These two guys put on FMW's greatest match ever in the late '90's. While this isn't their best, this is a great match. Tons of psychology. Great matwork. Incredible spots. Terrific drama. Awesome bumps. The two have definitely done better, but for a U.S. fan that wants to see FMW at it's best, this is a good match. Hayabusa cuts a promo afterwards (w/out his mask).
RATING: ***1/2

This Pay-Per-View was called "Backdrift," and while the main event and pre-main event was good, nothing else was too watchable. I really would recommend "The Judgment" or "International Slaughterhouse." The Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka videos are also good. The two announcers (Dan Lovranski ... & Don Watanabe) who speak English aren't too good, either. Not recommended unless you really want it.

okay the first review was very harsh, but i agree that the first few matches well, ya know, like a vacuum i suppose. but once you get past that the matches (forgive me because i only saw it once and this is only my third fmw dvd so i forgot the names of a few) on the last half or 3rd are truly mind blowing. tis contains the 5th best match i've ever seen(1st: owen vs. bret hart, anyone, 2nd: Jerry Lynn vs. RVD, 3rd: Owen Hart vs. Shawn Michals, 4th: Step mother vs. negumikudo) and it is Masato Tanaka vs. Hayabusa. Simply put it is without a doubt this is the best combination of styles i've ever seen. not easily put into words so just check it out.

Perhaps you've heard about how great FMW is. Perhaps you've heard how they "invented" hardcore wrestling. That may be so, but this tape doesn't prove it at all. Why? Let me count the ways.

1)It has Horace freaking Hogan on it. In not one but two matches. Sure, it's better than his WCW work, but that's saying very little.

2)The announcers are annoying. They can't convey any emotion, and their idea of insight is to rattle off the names of some old school wrestlers. Ole Anderson wasn't the only or first wrestler to work on one body part, so why do they keep on bringing him up? And their jokes are lame.

3)The ultra-hardcore Death Match with Mr. Pogo is a lights out match. Meaning you can't see what's going on. Dumb dumb dumb.

There is some good stuff on this tape. The work of Hayabusa is amazing. And the women's stuff is a hundred times better than their American counterparts. But really, if you can look around on the internet you can find much better tapes than this.

They say first impressions are important. Well this was my first FMW video and I was impressed. The action was great all-around. First it was supposed to be Comat Toyoda AKA "Mother-in- Law" vs. the Bad Nurse Nakamura. Before the match, Sub Miss Saito begged "Mother-In-Law" to let her wrestle the Bad Nurse. So "Mother -in--law" agreed. You will here the two commentators bantering so much they missed "bad Nurse" pinning Sub Miss. There was a female Muta named Megummi Kuddo she is one of the toughest female wrestlers I've ever seen. The announcers spend more time arguing that calling matches. The Gladiator/Hayabusa match was well put togather. Gladiator is Mike Awesome from ECW fame. There was a lights-out death match that would have been better if there was no lights out stip. There was a crazy tag team coffin match with Mr. Pogo and Horace (Hogan) Boulder vs Super Leather and Matsunaga. Matsunaga gets ... whopped all over this tape. This is a great intro to the world of FMW: Hardcore wrestling Made in Japan

Well, this is the first FMW video ive ever seen, so... Was it good? It was diferent, ill give you that, but it wasn't what I expected. The wrestling was good and all, but the announcers where the weak spot in the thing... They seemed more concerned with comparing the wrestlers to american wrestler, and with talking about which one of them had worse gas..... But don't let that fool you into thinking that this thing is bad... It isn't.. Its a great video.. The DVD version has some great add ons. The Mr. Pogo match would of been awesome, if it wasn't compleatly dark... but hey it was a lights out match (I think). The 'Gladiator' (Mike Awesome) Vs. Hayabusa (Probably spelt wrong) match was awesome (no pun intended). All in all a pretty good DVD.... Good enough that I will probably buy some other FMW ones too...

All the matches except the main event of Masato Tanaka vs Bam Bam Bigelow were clipped. Most were clipped to the point that it was not even fun to watch. The only thing to save the DVD was the fact that the DVD extras were FULL VERSION matches, unlike ALL other FMW DVDs, even the other one released with this one, The Judgement. These Bonus matches were very cool too: Shane Douglas vs Tommy Dreamer for the ECW Title, and The Dudley Boyz vs Sabu and RVD in a great ECW Tag Title Match.

Buy it for the Bonus Matches, and avoid all other FMW DVDs like I am, as they seem to be clipping everything except the main events of all their DVDs now.

Most of the matches are clipped somewhat, but there's still some good action to see. The DVD is only broken down into 5 or 6 chapters so you'll have to fast forward through to see some matches which just shows laziness on the part of it's creators. I gave it 3 stars because of the all star lineup that is involved though. Here's a rundown of the card.

1. Paul Heyman speech
2. Buh Buh Ray Dudley vs. The Sandman vs. Terry Funk
3. Dudley Boyz vs. Jado/Gedo
4. Terry Funk/The Sandman/Tommy Dreamer vs. Mike "Gladiator" Awesome/Mr. Ganosuke/Yukihiro Kanemura
5. Dudley Boyz vs. Terry Funk/Tommy Dreamer vs. Mike "Gladiator" Awesome/Hido
6. John Cronus/Ricky Fuji vs. Jado/Gedo
7. Tajiri vs. Super Crazy
8. Sabu vs. One Man Gang vs. Yukihiro Kanemura
9. Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Masato Tanaka

Bonus Matches (done in Japanese commentary)
1. Rob Van Dam/Sabu vs. Dudley Boyz
2. Shane Douglas w/Francine vs. Tommy Dreamer

FMW: International Slaughterhouse DVD features 11 matches pitting the stars of ECW vs. the stars of FMW. While the billing sounds impressive, the product itself leaves a little to be desired. A majority of the matches are "clipped" with the action being about average to slightly above average. Still wrestling fans who favor hardcore wrestling, ECW or Japanese style hardcore wrestling may still find this DVD worth at least a rental or a borrow.

Here are a rundown of the contents of this DVD:

Your Hosts are "Straight Up" John Watanabe and Dan "The Mouth" Lovranski

1.Paul Heyman promo extolling the virtues of the work ethic of ECW wrestlers, Japanese wrestlers and the Japanese fans.

2.Buh Buh Ray Dudley vs. Sandman vs. Terry Funk: 3-way Ladder match. Decent spots and hard action, but nothing overly exciting. 3 stars.

3.Gedo and Jado vs. the Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray and D'von): Not never really got underway as they brawled to a double DQ within minutes. DUD.

4.Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer and the Sandman vs. Mike Awesome, WING Kanemura and Mr. Ganosuke: Awesome six-man action. Tons of caning. 4 stars

5.Hido/Mike Awesome vs. Dudleyz vs. Dreamer/Funk: 3-way tag elimination match. Wild match with all 6 men fighting at the same time. Lots of action. 3 1/2 stars.

6.John Kronus/Ricky Fuji vs. Jado and Gedo: Short match but tons of nice aerial/martial arts spots 3 ¾ stars.

7.Tajiri vs. Super Crazy: Short, but decent cruiser action from two of the best. I've seen better from them though. 3 stars.

8.WING Kanemura vs. One Man Gang vs. Sabu: All-out hardcore 3-way war with tons of tables, chairs and high-flying mayhem. 4 ¼ stars.

9.Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Masato Tanaka: AWESOME match. Hard-hitting, tons of psychology. Awesome work. Best match on the DVD. 5 stars

10.Post-match Interview with Tanaka in the locker room.

Bonus Match 1: RVD/Sabu vs. Dudleyz: Decent hardcore war. 4 stars

Bonus Match 2: Dreamer vs. Shange Douglas w/Francine: Ditto 4 stars

THE VERDICT:

Overall, the DVD and matches were fairly mediocre with no matches being really
BAD (except the Dudleyz vs. Jado/Gedo) but again only a few matches are really of noteworthiness (Bigelow/Tanaka and the 6-man tag match). Overall, the best reason to buy the DVD is for the mere novelty of the International/promotional match-ups and not the matches themselves. Still, nonetheless, the DVD (or at least the VHS) is worth a watch if you come across it. It's entertaining enough for an afternoon rental.

Recommendation to Rent/Borrow