#219: Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka, ECW Heatwave (8/2/1998).
This is a standard singles match, but if you know anything about these two, it will be anything but standard.
Awesome and Tanaka have a rich and violent history, raging across ECW and FMW in Japan. They all have one thing in common: stiff shots.
They get right in each otherās face, and shove the other right away. After introductions from the ring announcer, we get right into this match, which should be a total barnburner. They lock up, and Awesome forces Tanaka into the turnbuckle. He unloads with kicks to the gut, followed by a middle rope diving back elbow for a 2 count. They throw elbows to the face, and Tanaka takes the side headlock. They bump shoulders, and Awesome calls Tanaka a motherfucker.
Awesome with a belly to belly suplex. Tanaka sends him to the apron, and Awesome responds with a slingshot shoulder tackle. Running splash gets Awesome a 2 count. Awesome with a clothesline, sending Tanaka to the outside. Awesome then hits a diving Tope to the floor, taking the Japanese icon down. He brings Tanaka into the ring, then comes off the top rope with a clothesline for a nearfall. Irish whip in the corner, and Tanaka runs into a release German Suplex. Heās back up and hits a scoop slam.
Tanaka tosses Awesome to the apron, then hits a middle rope clothesline to drop the big man. Tanaka grabs a chair, and goes to the stage. He hits Awesome in the midsection, then runs up the ramp. He comes back down, and drops the chair into Awesomeās head. Back in the ring, Tanaka with a missile dropkick to Awesome for a 2 count. Awesome lifts Tanaka up and dumps him to the outside. Tanaka has a chair, and so does Awesome! They swing them like swords, with Tanaka winning and cracking Awesome in the spine.
Tanaka whips Awesome into the barricade, and then gets flipped into the first row. Awesome goes to the top rope, then dives onto Tanaka and the fans! What a wild man. Back in the ring, Awesome goes for the Awesome Bomb, and connects! He covers, and Tanaka kicks out. Alabama Slam by Awesome, and he returns to the top rope. He hits the Awesome Splash, and Tanaka kicks out again. He goes to the outside again, and grabs another chair.
Hard shot to the head, and another! Tanaka is getting right back up, the psycho! Tanaka kicks the chair away, but Awesome slides under him and grabs it, and hits him even harder than before! Awesome kicks out, and Tanaka kicks out once again. Awesome with a running release Awesome Bomb across the ring, and now he brings positions a ringside table close to the ring. He goes to the top rope, and comes down with a chairshot to Tanakaās head.
Awesome looks for the Awesome Bomb, and Tanaka slips out. He eats a clothesline, and Awesome looks for it again. Tanaka escapes again, and connects with some elbows to the jaw. Tanaka then sends Awesome flying through the table on the outside with an Awesome Bomb of his own! Awesome damn near landed on his head on that dirty ass concrete floor. Tanaka brings Awesome into the ring, and makes the cover. By the grace of some deity, Awesome kicks out.
Hard elbow to the jaw by Tanaka, and a discus elbow! Tanaka covers, and Awesome kicks out again. Tanaka sets two chairs on top of each other, and brings Awesome to the turnbuckle. Top rope tornado DDT onto the chairs, and Tanaka gets the victory! Big ovation from the fans for the efforts. Hard fought and hard hitting, just like all of their matches in the 1990s, and their One Night Stand 2005 match. It was smash mouth, and devoid of all the things that scream āclassic wrasslin.ā Thereās no psychology, or deep soap opera storyline here. This is two guys going for broke and beating the shit out of the other. Itās crazy, and in hindsight, much of whatās done here probably wasnāt for the best when it comes to inspiring the next generation of wrestlers, but itās a lot of fun. Thereās passion here that canāt be denied, and two great workers who always brought the best out of each other.
Tanaka has always been a beast, and Awesome may be one of the most underrated guys of this era. Together, they created magic each and every time with a simple formula: Destroy the other.