World’s Most Dangerous Retrospective is a review series from three of the founders of Violent People reviewing the matches (and fights) of Ken Shamrock. A not so elegant ripoff of Segunda Caida’s Complete & Accurate series. Matches will be rated as either SOFT or HARD.

FMW Flashover 1997 – Tag 11: Over The Legend Kawasaki
Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
Kawasaki Stadium

Dan:

I’ve never seen this match! It is weird! Yuki Ishikawa is the referee. So, the best wrestler involved is stuck officiating. It’s in front of 50,000 fans, but it’s pitch black so all the fans are swallowed in darkness. It’s an interesting visual, but I can’t help, but feel there’s a better way to utilize a crowd of that size. It’s labeled as a shoot fight, but it’s not really wrestled like that at all. Vader and Ken are both WWF guys at this point. Victor Quinones just paid a shit ton of money for them to come over and work like fourth from the top. They even come out to their WWF music. Just super strange stuff all around.

Like I said, it’s not really wrestled shoot style. Or at least not well. It’s mostly strike exchanges, which are fine. The kicks are bad, the selling is ok and the punches look pretty good. I think I came in with too high of expectations. This is clearly a lesser match than their WWF work and I don’t buy the finish. This might be my fault, but yeah this is a bunch of nothing in a cool setting.

Rating: Fuck it, I’m probably being unfair, but SOFT 

Sam:

As a great man once said, Dan I think you need to stay off the WEEEEEEEED!

First up:

• Won’t give you any slack for ranking Yuki Ishikawa higher than Vader even if that doesn’t hold true for myself
• I love the vibes of Shamrock and Vader fighting in a cage within the black void. Feels a bit sinister with crowd as you know they are being watched by a large number of people in what via pure acoustics sounds like a massive venue.
• Triple H is trying to go back to the days of sending WWF wrestlers to Japan to do a weird thing with the NOAH tournament but clearly he sucks at this stuff.
• It is pro wrestling, never believe what they tell you, even if they tell you it is shoot style. 

These two are lovely foils for one another. Vader is one of the great offensive wrestlers, and occasionally to his detriment a phenomenal defensive wrestler. It is just that so few wrestlers can justify the selling that he is capable of. The World’s Most Dangerous Man doesn’t have any problems delivering in that regard, even if he comes into this one with banged-up ribs.

I could see this match not living up to the expectations or even other contests between the two but in the same breath I can’t see thinking this match is bad. Vader comes in with a clear target of the ribs his punches are thunderous. Love when he gets a couple good shots and puts ol’ Ken in a Mortal Kombat dazed state so he can punch the head a dozen times. It looks a bit goofy but the background of both gives moments like that a little more life than you would typically get.

Not to harp on Dan’s thoughts too much but they keep Ken’s kick dangerous throughout. The one he hits is more at the extension of the toes so rather than being a Peter Aerts-style blast, it is more of a tap giving him his big opening of the fight.

If anything, it is the finish that drags things down a tad with Vader clearly looking to dish out more after what wasn’t a top 750 biggest slam from him. But Ken, mouth blood and all, can’t take the heat. Not enough to diminish what I consider a helluva fun match that gets you in and out in under 10 minutes.

RATING: HARD

Chris

Do I agree that this is not Vader and Shamrock’s best work together? Yes. Do I agree that this is not a shoot-style match? Obviously. The most important question: Do I care? Absolutely not.

The cage in the void is a fun environment, and I enjoyed the strikes. The match really doesn’t waste any time. It’s a sub-10-minute match that feels less than 5 minutes. 

You’ve got an incredibly basic story. Vader’s the massive monster and Shamrock is going to have to rely on all the power in his strikes he can muster to put him down. If any undersized wrestler is going to be able to slay the beast with pure striking, it’s Shamrock, but Vader’s just too much of a goliath.

RATING: I do agree they seem to have a bit more in them as Ken goes down for the count, but I had fun watching this. It may be a minor match, but atmosphere and pacing has me at a HARD rating.

FINAL RATING: HARD