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Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling
DVD Series 2
Review
by: Russ
Ray
First
off, if you need an introduction to the Tokyopop FMW series,
go read this.
Second
of all, let me reach into the mailbag and crucify this idiot:
From
: "SSLA"
To : russ316@msn.com
Subject : FMW scripted & unscripted videos
Date : Fri, 27 Jul 2001 05:44:31 -0700
Russ,
I read
your review of the Tokyopop FMW videotapes that you saw.
First
off, you apparently did not read in the Wrestling Observer
Newsletter and other sources that John Watanabe (also of the
syndicated Urban Wrestling Alliance on UPN channels nationwide)
and Eric Geller were forced/directed to read off of scripts...scripts
written by Hollywood screenwriters (one of these screenwriters
listed on the credits/boxes is Neil Mandt, also the first
FMW tapes director).
Also,
have you heard about John Watanabe's other work doing straight
play-by-play for the Urban Wrestling Alliance (the league
that has Rocky Johnson as its trainer)??? There's a big difference
in his UWA and original FMW work.
Tuesday,
July 31st--that's the date when Tokyopop's new, UNscripted
FMW videos are coming out ("Yokohama Deathmatch" and "The
Flying Assassin"). On Liveaudiowrestling.com,
Dan "The Mouth" Levranski says he is John Watanabe's new FMW
co-announcer, and that these new FMW videos don't have scripted
dumb jokes by Hollywood writers.
Hopefully,
you will see these new, upcoming FMW videos with Dan Levranski
and John Watanabe, and give your readers the correct information
about the "scripted" approach of the first FMW videos.
Apparently
this moron didn't get the e-mail that I sent back to him,
which was reprinted in my July
11th column--a full 20 DAYS before this jackass sent me
almost the same damn email that he sent before. Anyway, for
these two videos, I maintain the fact that whether the dialogue
is scripted or not, it doesn't work and it's stupid. I never
based my original review on the fact that these two guys couldn't
commentate for a spelling bee, let alone for a wrestling match.
Because I was able to switch to the Japanese audio track,
I really didn't mind, and I was able to skip over their match
intros and Snake Sister segments that add absolutely nothing
to the wrestling. I still maintain that Watanabe doesn't know
his stuff, and he's more interested in making insipid remarks
putting over how great FMW is instead of calling the action.
He sucks. Plain and simple.
Well,
now that I'm done putting him down, let me say something nice
about the people at Tokyopop.
If you buy one of these two DVDs, you can send away for a
swank poster of somebody breathing fire on Hayabusa. I can't
tell who it is from the angle, but it's a really, really awesome
sight.
 Ring
of Torture is an above-average effort in the Tokyopop
FMW hardcore wrestling series. Most of the matches are from
Yokohama circa December 1995.The quick opening match features
a guy named Getkou who dresses in a patchwork outfit resembling
that of a gecko. Geller and Watanabe really didn't offer any
insight as to who Getkou actually was or why he dressed that
way, but I guess the Mexican wrestlers don't either.
The rest
of the undercard matches feature women, including a match
where Sub Miss Sato whips Kaori Nakayama with a wet towel
(!) and Bad Nurse Nakamura taking on Yukari Ishikura. A street
fight between Mr. Pogo and Masato Tanaka is also lots of fun
to watch, as both men ended up going all over the building
and took out several rows. In addition, both men ended up
pretty bloody by the end.
The other
two matces pit Combat Toyoda & Bison Kimura against Megumi
Kudo and Aija in a "Class of 1986" reunion match
and a 6-man tag team death match with broken glass and barbed
wire that didn't really do anything for me. The bonus match
features another short 6-man tag that's decent enough with
some nice high-flying spots.
 This
DVD is unique in the Tokyopop series in that all the matches
are women's matches. Not only that, but instead of the little
Hayabusa promo the other Tokyopop FMW titles have, this one
has a hot little video pictorial of Megumi Kudo doing things
like walking on the beach, showering, laying by the pool,
and... well, scuba diving. Most of the matches are from Korakuen
Hall circa December 1995.
Just like
some of the other DVDs in this series, the bonus match and
undercard matches are heavily edited. In fact, they're often
15 to 20 minute matches that are cut down to 6 or 7 minutes
or even less. However, most of them feature pretty good action.
The first three matches (Chikayo Nagashima & Shihiro Nakano
vs. Aki Kanbayashi & Sonoko Kato, Bomber Hikaru vs. Sub
Miss Sato, and Motaya & Hotaru vs. Kaori Nakayama &
Yukari Ishikura) are all athletic bouts that anyone should
find enjoyable. We also get to see some fresh faces in these
matches, as only Sub Miss Sato has been featured in previous
titles. For some reason, they decided to throw in a stupid
52-second match between Chigusa Nagayo and Bad Nurse Nakamura
that's just a waste of time and space.
The Combat
Toyoda vs. Kaoru match will please shootfighting fans that
like to watch a lot of mat wrestling and hold exchanges, but
workrate freaks will complain about the overabundance of restholds.
Still, it picks up and ends up being a nice match with a lot
of pride on the line as the younger Kaoru tries to beat "Mother-in-Law"
before she retires. Then, Megumi Kudo takes on Shark Tsuchiya
in a death match that does nothing but demonstrate how well
Kudo can juice. Finally, they return to the athletic tag team
bouts that dominated the beginning of the DVD with Shark Tsuchiya
& Miss Mongol taking on Megumi Kudo and Kaori Nakayama.
The bonus match is a 6-person tag match with most of the women
you've already read about.
This wasn't
a bad DVD, but there wasn't a whole lot about it that was
memorable. Still, it's worth a look.
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