Secret Base: Volume 4

CHANGO and Suzuki tear it up. Well, by Secret Base standards anyway.

May 25, 2009 – Warabi, Japan

Starting with the previous show an Ice Ribbon banner hung from the ring. It’s hanging here too despite the fact that no Ice Ribbon wrestlers are on this show.

Kinya Oyanagei {T2P} vs. Fujiso {ED}
They fight it out on the mat to start. Oyanagei puts on a wristlock. Fujiso comes back with armdrags. He hits a head scissors takedown. Oyanagei hits a knee to the gut. He hits a senton and puts on a chinlock. Fujiso gets to the ropes. Oyanagei hits European uppercuts. He hits a backbreaker and puts on a bow and arrow. He puts on an abdominal stretch. Fujiso gets to the ropes. He hits another head scissors takedown and a plancha. Back in the ring he hits a dropkick for 2. Oyanagei hits a pair of enziguiris for 2. Fujiso hits a DDT for 2. He hits a running dropkick. He hits a hurricanrana for 2. They trade roll ups awkwardly until Oyanagei hits a cradle piledriver for the win at 7:45. This was crap, like every Secret Base opener I’ve seen so far.
Rating: *

Masaki Okimoto {TX} & Masahiro Takanashi {DDT} vs. Mototsugu Shimizu {T2P} & Spark Aoki {TX}
Takanashi and Shimizu start. Shimizu puts on the Mark Nulty Special. Okimoto and Aoki trade chops. Okimoto hits a dropkick. Aoki hits an enziguiri. Shimizu dropkicks Aoki by mistake in one of the most poorly timed spots I’ve ever seen. Okimoto smacks Aoki. He hits a bodyslam for 2. He puts on a chinlock but Aoki gets to the ropes. Takanashi hits a dropkick for 2. Shimizu hits a back elbow. He dropkicks the leg and hits a facebuster. Takanashi bites his hand. Shimizu hits the Stroke and a Rocker Dropper for 2. I’d probably rip off late ‘90s WWF finishers if I were wrestler too. Okimoto hits a fisherman suplex for 2. He and Takanashi hit a double fisherman buster for 2. Shimizu hits a spinebuster. Aoki hits a back suplex for 2. Shimizu hits an inverted DDT and Aoki hits a Superfly Splash for 2. Aoki tries to get Shimizu to do his Spark pose, and ends up eating a double superkick. Okimoto hits a German suplex for 2. He hits a 450 splash for the win at 10:08. Okimoto’s selling is terrible. I don’t know how he disguised this when he was the Jumping Kid, but Secret Base has exposed him as being unable to convey pain. Aoki was awkward as ever here too. Shimizu can’t carry everything on his own.
Rating: *½

Bear Fukuda {TX} & Takeshi Minamino {TX} vs. Go {DG} & Satoshi Kajiwara {TM}
This match illustrates just how much of a “sparring promotion” Secret Base is, as Fukuda has switched to Minamino’s side for reasons unexplained. Kajiwara and Minamino start. They trade holds, displaying more intensity in one minute than the rest of the roster has to this point in the show. Minamino puts on a headlock. Go and Fukuda trade chops. Fukuda hits a shoulder tackle. Minamino stomps Go in the corner. Kajiwara tries to trade elbows with Fukuda and ends up on his back. Fukuda hits a bodyslam for 2. Minamino beats Kajiwara around ringside, getting 2 for Fukuda back in the ring. Minamino hits a bodyslam. He puts on a rear naked choke. Kajiwara gets to the ropes. They trade elbows in an exchange that Kajiwara wins. The crowd is completely behind Kajiwara now. Go hits both opponents with a spear. Kajiwara hits a vertical suplex for 2. Fukuda hits an enziguiri and Minamino hits a big boot. They hit Go with clotheslines in the corner. They hit a double vertical suplex for 2. Fukuda hits a dropkick for 2. Go hits a spinebuster. Kajiwara hits a missile dropkick. He hits a knee kick and a Tree of Woe corner to corner dropkick for 2. Minamino hits a low blow. Fukuda hits a clothesline and a DDT for 2. He hits his takedown. Kajiwara gets a roll up for 2. Fukuda hits a lariat. He hits a brainbuster for 2. He hits one on Go. Minamino hits Kajiwara with a DVD and Fukuda hits the Final Flash for the win at 13:33. This wasn’t anything special, but absolutely nothing embarrassing happened. That salvages this show from the dangerous waters it was treading. Kajiwara is starting look pretty impressive. I think I’ll check out his match against Ultimo Dragon in Kensuke Office.
Rating: **¾

CHANGO {TX} vs. Amigo Suzuki {TM}
This match was set up after the main event on Volume 3, which makes it the closest thing to an angle that Secret Base has had. They trade holds to start. Suzuki hits a shoulder tackle. They trade armdrags. CHANGO hits a dropkick and a legdrop. He hits another dropkick. He loosens the top turnbuckle. He dropkicks Suzuki’s knee. CHANGO goes to the eyes. He puts on a chinlock. Suzuki gets to the ropes. They trade chops until Suzuki takes over. Suzuki stomps CHANGO in the corner. They trade elbows. Suzuki stretches CHANGO’s neck for 2. He hits a jawbreaker. He swats away a dropkick. More elbows are exchanged, and this time Suzuki hits the mat. CHANGO hits a running elbow in the corner. He hits a facebuster and a double stomp. He hits a dropkick to the back. He hits headbutts that do more damage to himself than to Suzuki. Suzuki takes that as a cue to hit headbutts. CHANGO exposes the turnbuckle and baits Suzuki into hitting it with a headbutt. He rams Suzuki’s head into the turnbuckle. Great stuff there. It gets 2. He hits a spike facebuster for 2. Suzuki comes back with a fall away slam. He somersaults into a headbutt. He puts on a funky STF. CHANGO gets to the ropes. Suzuki hits rolling vertical suplexes. He misses a diving headbutt and CHANGO gets a roll up for 2. He gets a small package for 2. He gets a crucifix pin for 2. He hits a Finlay roll and a double stomp for 2. They trade elbows while shouting each other’s name. Suzuki hits a German suplex for 2. He hits a headbutt and a tiger suplex for the win at 15:35. The turnbuckle stuff put this on par with Volume 3’s solid main event. The rest of the match wasn’t half bad either, and had there been real crowd heat to go along with it I think they could have put on an excellent match.
Rating: ***¼

After the match CHANGO asks Suzuki if they can team up on Volume 5. Suzuki is all for it. Go and Kajiwara come out and challenge them to a tag team match. I very much dig that the main events flow naturally from show to show, but I think the Volume 5 main event would have meant more if Go and Kajiwara had beaten Fukuda and Minamino on this show. Shimizu and Aoki come out, but they’d end up on opposite ends of a tag team match on Volume 5. Does anyone know where I can get a CHANGO shirt?

Class Key
{TX} – Toryumon X
{T2P} – Toryumon 2000 Project
{TM} – Toryumon Mexico
{DDT} – Dramatic Dream Team
{ED} – El Dorado
{DG} – Dragon Gate