I love it when American wrestlers (in this case, Tommy Rogers and Bobby Fulton — aka the Fantastics) would travel to Japan to beat the hell out of the home-grown local talent. The cruelty of the “Gaijin” wrestlers would always outrage the Japanese viewers.
This Tag Team battle from 1994 (which has excellent video quality for its age, by the way) was recently uploaded to YouTube.
The Japanese promoters loved to import the most good-looking, popular American tag teams and have them wrestle as the Heels. Honest, innocent young Faces who would never break a rule in the USA were suddenly converted into vicious tigers upon landing in Tokyo. Here the Fantastics punish a popular Japanese team called “Wild Burning” — Takao Omori and Jun Akiyama.
The Fantastics learned well from the Heel teams that have oppressed and dominated them for years. Now that they’re in Japan, unseen by their American fans and portraying foreign invaders, they finally get to unleash their Inner Dickheads. Bobby Fulton seems to be especially cruel — a Heel in a Baby-Face’s body.
I love it when innocent white booted Dudley Do-Right wrestlers show us their dark side, inflicting Two-on-One torture, attacking their rag-dolled victim outside the ropes, and acting like raunchy, arrogant fuckers. I don’t know why the cruelty is hotter when inflicted by Good Guys, but it is.
The Fantastics deploy their usual flashy, high-flying moves to destroy the popular Face-in-Peril, Jun Akiyama.
I’m not sure what Rogers was trying to do when he sailed off the top rope — maybe he botched this move. Their bodies impact stiffly and Akiyama collapses to the mat. I think this is where the Japanese hero’s face became bloodied.
Akiyama sells his agony beautifully, groping the air with his fingers splayed as Bobby tries to put him away in a Dragon Sleeper. Outside the ropes, Omori watches helplessly from just a few feet away as his partner suffers and pleads for help.
This is exactly the formula that Japanese fans enjoy — their favorite wrestlers utterly dominated by American invaders. I love thinking about what they must be feeling as they witness this dominance.
The blood tricking down Akiyama’s cheek, marring his handsome face, is an unplanned bonus to really rile up the outraged audience.
Another theme running through this match is the frequent use of the boot-sole to degrade and destroy Akiyama. Earlier we saw a Fantastic Double Dropkick and then Bobby stomping on Akiyama out on the floor. Here Tommy steps his boot on the helpless victim’s forehead. The placement of a dirty boot on someone’s face is a clear symbol of desecration and disrespect in Japan (and even worse when performed by a foreigner.)
Another nice aspect of this match (and Japanese wrestling in general) is the length of this 21-minute match. The wrestlers can really take their time, milk the punishment, and let the story unfold as the tension builds. Plus I get to see lots and lots of Tommy Rogers in action (Was I the only one still crushing on him after he fleshed out nicely and added that extra brawn in the 1990’s?)
Akiyama’s prolonged suffering begins with some stiff Gut Punches and Suplex by Tommy at about 7:05 into the match, and continues gloriously until he finally tags out at 13:50. That may not sound like an extremely long time — nearly 7 minutes of pure suffering — but it beats the typical modern American match where we get about 2 minutes of isolated Baby suffering sandwiched between the commercial breaks.
Eventually Akiyama makes the tag and Omori comes to the rescue. The Fantastics begin to dominate him as well, and then the Japanese heroes use some high-flying two-on-one offense of their own to win the bout. I wasn’t very interested in that part — I mostly wanted to drool over Tommy and Bobby acting like vicious cocky Heels.
Overall this was a hot Tag Team fight with plenty of Face-in-Peril agony. I’m happy to be able to enjoy these rare clips from Japan featuring one of my favorite Tag Teams of the 80’s and 90’s. Keep them coming, YouTube.
Another great post. Thanks