ZERO-1 Max Genesis 2008

 This is a card I saw a friend on Twitter mention wanting to find and I saw three of these matches and just knew I needed to watch and review it, boy am I glad I did. 

Tengu Barron Tengu Kaiser vs Munenori Sawa Naoki Ueda

Quick opening between Ueda and Tengu with holds traded, before the other the other Tengu tags in and is taken down by a shoulder block and a dropkick. This match is quite clipped but what is shown is pretty good all around. Tengus win after a splash by the red one. Get around 2 minutes of a 13 minute match. No rating due to it being that severely clipped.

Koji Kanemoto Ryusuke Taguchi vs Shota Takanishi Tatsuhito Takaiwa

Taguchi does a taunting dance as he is introduced that got a chuckle from me. Takaiwa and Kanemoto are jawing before the match as the old NJPW Jr. stalwarts begin this match. Incredible mat work, followed by heavy ass chops as expected. The mat work is beyond crisp and I could watch these two wrestle for eternity. Kanemoto is an ultra dick as per usual but Takaiwa more then matches that energy. Taguchi tags in and gets absolutely rocked. However he is able to tag in Kanemoto who bullies Takanishi. I almost feel bad for Takanishi with how thoroughly he gets his ass kicked. More of a bullying performance from Taguchi then usual and he more then holds up his end of the bastardy. Takaiwa responds with bullying of his own by viciously targeting the arm of the Funky Weapon. This is truly an unbelievably performance from the old gits (affectionate) and Taguchi. Whilst Takanishi plays his role of punching bag with occasional fire well. I really love this tag match. Kanemoto decides the simple knee bar isn't enough he needs to tiger suplex, and kick Takanishi in the head before the knee bar. A truly great tag match.

65/80

The Great Sasuke vs Minoru Fujita

Starts fast and heavy as one would expect from Sasuke before it moves to the outside and into the crowd. Fujita and his tag partner stomp a mudhole out of Sasuke leading to a DQ. More angle then anything to set up a tag match right here.

Kesen Numajiro The Great Sasuke vs Minoru Fujita Takuya Sugawara

Numajiro comes to aid Sasuke and the tag is one as he ties Fujita in knots. Lots of ass based offense from Numajiro. Sasuke is still good Fujita and Sugawara are good Numajiro is there. 3/4ths of the people in this match are good the work with Sasuke and the heels in particular are great. Numajiro is really bad in this one and I wish it was literally any other M-Pro stalwart then him. Numajiro wins this was whatever. You may Numajiro as Yone Genjin.

40/80

Ryyouji Sai Yoshihito Sasaki vs Manabu Nakanishi Takao Omori

Sasaki and Omori start with standup grappling before the camera misses the takedown that ends with Omori working the arm of Sasaki. Sasaki begins stomping the leg of Omori before he tags in Sai who gets the bejeezus slapped out of him. Nakanishi can still sorta move at this point and can absolutely throw gnarly forearms. Strikes are good but anything beyond that is pretty lack luster. Omori's selling on the mat is less selling and more just laying there. Omori isn't exactly limber in this one but he does throw cool strikes. The old dudes are working unbelievably stiff in this one even more then is expected despite that it isn't particularly interesting. They are missing the fire and the selling to make those strikes interesting. This feels like the more boring version of the Kanemoto match not bad but not particularly good or anything, slightly better then the previous match. Ends after a miscommunication leading to Nakanishi getting revenge with a German on Omori. Massive brawl post match between Zero1 guys and Nooj guys. This is another match that is kinda here, to continue the Zero1 vs NJPW story.

45/80

Chris Sabin Alex Shelley vs Dick Togo Ikuto Hidaka

Togo and Sabin begin working with slick mat work before Togo's arm is targeted by the Machine Guns. However Shelley gets to close to the other corner however he is able to escape to tag in Sabin this action is truly unbelievable. The pace is truly unbelievable almost classically Michinoku Pro styled. I really enjoy the counters these men work f. The pace of this match is truly absurd I cannot do it justice how well these 4 men work together. The pace is absurd but what makes it even better is they are able to sell even in this slightly clipped form of this match. The first major dives to the outside was two great topes from Sabin and Shelley. That is the other insane part this absurdly paced match almost entirely exists in the ring. At one point Sabin backdrops Shelley who flips mid air to land flat on Hidaka. Shelley is able to escape the submission with a rope break before tagging in Sabin who trades gnarly strikes with Dick Togo. This match just does not relent at all in the best way possible. Everything just makes sense in a way matches like this so often fail to do. Genuinely just go find this match and watch it, its a sight to behold. Shelley pins Hidaka to win a fantastic tag. I truly cannot due justice to the creativity on display here.

70/80

Masato Tanaka vs Daisuke Sekimoto

Grappling begins and ends in a stalemate. I swear the only way you can tell Tanaka has aged is his hair and the worsening of the scars. I enjoy Sekimoto trying to grind down the veteran in Tanaka. I already love this match. The chops are as blistering as one would expect with these two bastards (affectionate.) Sekimoto skinning the cat at his side is genuinely absurd. Beyond the strikes and the power the sheer abandon and speed they huck their bodies at each other with is unreal. Sekimoto hits a tope after hitting the ropes at mach fuck you. Following up, Sekimoto has a control segment hitting a running elbow drop and nasty chops but Tanaka is able to sit out to block the vertical suplex. Tanaka even manages to reverse it into one of his own. A man the size of Sekimoto should not be that comfortable coming off the top rope however here he is doing a frog splash. However, Tanaka gets the knees up and hits a frog splash of his own. These two are absolute freaks of nature. Tanaka hits an elbow on a dive attempt from Sekimoto that lands disgustingly flush. You see the impact as Sekimoto's jaw contorts. Then a handful of consecutive spinning back fists. The strikes from Tanaka are beyond disgusting. Sekimoto hits a dead-lift German and drops Tanaka straight on his head and then does it again. These elbows are causing Sekimoto's face to swell then Tanaka hits two sliding lariats. These final two matches were both beyond great.

75/80

This was a great piece of wrestling. Especially the first and final tag and the main event. Genuinely those three matches were utterly awesome. Makes up for the the lackluster middle portion of the show.

8.5/10