To bring everyone up to speed on Michinoku Pro, there's a few things you must know. It's tricky to learn, but listen to my flow. Haha. If could make this whole review a Rapping Review, I'd be a god. But I'm not, so I'll have to talk "skraight."

The Great Sasuke is the guy who wears an all black semi-gi with the red sash, and the black\white mask. Aside from being owner and proprietor of Michinoku Pro Wrestling, he is one of their top stars, and one of the best wrestlers in the world. Super Delphin is the masked, very colorful guy who's gimmick is that he's a Super Dolphin. Gran Naniwa is the guy in the mask with the antennae who's gimmick is that he's a crab. Shiryu is a masked wrestler whom everyone and their mom claims is Kaz Hayashi, yet from this tape seems too fat to be Hayashi. Shiryu wears a Spiderman-esque mask for most of this tape, as well as the same pants that Dick Togo does. MEN'S Teioh is the suave, cocky, medium length red-haired and just slightly heavy founder of Kaientai along with Dick Togo, the overly hefty dropper of senton bombs and king of everything. Togo wears these awesome hawaiian print pants. TAKA Michinoku is the ratty-looking guy who wears pants that go to just above his ankles. Shoichi Funaki or, just Funaki, is TAKA's best pal in the world and goes wherever TAKA goes. He always wears striped onesies and has reddish hair that is longer than MEN'S Teioh's. Tiger Mask IV is the fourth Tiger Mask, and uses a combination of high flying and crazy submission moves, making him an excellent wrestler. El Pantera wears a black mask. He appeared on WWF Super Astros for a while where he jobbed to TAKA and Funaki, who were at the head of the jobber order at that time. He only appears twice on this tape, so it's not all that important. Gran Hamada is one of the older wrestlers in Japan at almost 50 years. He's a fairly big name in M-Pro, but only shows up once on this tape. His daughter is KAWAIIII!

Coming into the beginning of this tape, M-Pro is basically divided into 3 factions. First is the team headed by The Great Sasuke, which features such notables as Gran Hamada, Shiryu, and Tiger Mask IV. Second is Super Delphin's faction. Delphin, a longtime rival of Sasuke, heads a stable that competes with Sasuke's, and featues such notables as Gran Naniwa, TAKA Michinoku, and Shoichi Funaki. Third, and the eventual focus of many angles to come, is Kaientai. Kaientai, which, in Japanese means "Group of evil associates", at the start of this tape consists of only 2 members, Dick Togo and MEN'S Teioh. Their blatant cheatery and HEEL tactics set them apart from Sasuke's team which is face, and Delphin's team which only acts slightly heel. At the start of this tape, Kaientai's evil is becoming a growing concern to The Great Sasuke.

If that doesn't explain things well enough, there's always this: Which basically covers the exact spot in time where this tape starts.

On with things. I'll rate matches in DeDeDes.

The tape starts out with one of the weirdest, yet greatest, things I've ever seen, which is The Great Sasuke being quickly pushed around a gym on a heavy loading cart by who I'm almost positive is Gedo as Generic Rock Music plays in the background. Eventually, Gedo? loses control, and the cart and Sasuke tip over, and Sasuke clutches his knee in pain as some guy who looks an awful lot like Mr. Pogo rushes over to him.

Match 1: Super Delphin vs. El Pantera, for the C.M.L.L Title. For those not PUROSMARKS, there's a ton of titles in Japan that are often traded between different competitors of different organizations. This match is clipped, but I'll give you the rundown on the goings on during the parts they show. Clip to them already in the ring for pre-match festivities. Pictures are taken, etc. Delphin gapes his mouth open really weird. This is the first of two appearances on this tape by Delphin's female escort, who doesn't look as cute here as she does later. Clip to the match. Pantera is putting Delphin's legs in some kind of insane submission hold. Clip to Delphin getting pushed to the outside of the ring as Pantera charges and goes for a suicide plancha. Clip to back in the ring, where Pantera quickly surfaces the turnbuckle and hits Delphin with a semi-weak shoulderblock. Cover, 2. Both men fall asleep. Pantera rises and gives a shoddy scoop slam. Pantera surfaces and does a crazy corkscrew onto Delphin's arm. Cover, 2. Pantera whips Delphin in the corner, but Delphin climbs and kicks Pantera in the head. This sets up Delphin's signature Tornado DDT. Delphin tries his Delph pin, but Pantera quickly rolls Delphin up for 2. Delphin gets up, and Pantera does it again for 2. Delphin charges, Pantera catches him, and Delphin insanely squirrels his way into a pinning combination. 3 count, and Delphin wins the title.

Match 2: Gran Hamada and El Pantera vs. Dick Togo and MEN'S Teioh. All the men are currently in the ring, and the ring announcer goes nuts announcing Teioh's name. Teioh, at the sounding of his name, quickly, almost tears off his SWANK suit jacket and pants that he sometimes wears. Togo and Hamada start. The crowd chants "HA MA DA", which Togo doesn't like. Hamada starts with one of his quick armdrags. Togo lands on his back and seems in pain. They sort of lockup, but Togo hits a drop toe hold. Hamada then quickly flips Togo by his arm and covers him, but Togo gets up before 1. Clip, Togo trades brutal chops with Hamada, and Hamada busts out a headbutt to Togo, which floors him. Clip to Teioh and Pantera in the ring. Teioh kicks Pantera, then hits a snapmare. Teioh stomps on Pantera's masked forehead, then struts. Yes. Pantera grabs one of his feet and pulls him to the ground, then works on his arm, and hits an armdrag. (The almost-official move of M-Pro.) Clip to Togo kicking Hamada, then grabs him as Teioh runs in and rakes Hamada's back. Teioh grabs Hamada as Togo give him Chops A Plenty. And slaps. Teioh hits a snapmare as Togo jaws to Pantera. Teioh then pulls Hamada's arms back which sets up the DROPKICK from Togo to Hamada's head. The crowd hates Kaientai so much. Teioh turns around and puts Hamada in a camel clutch, as Togo goes for the requisite Kaientai Dropkick to the face. Clip to Hamada chopping Togo in the ropes. Then Togo eats some headbutts. Togo is thrown outside, into the crowd, and Hamada causes him to fall into a row of chairs. In the ring, (M-Pro is lucha rules, so if a competitor leaves the ring, his partner can just run in without a tag) Teioh is being chopped by Pantera in the corner. And stomped. Outside, Hamada slammas Togo's head into the ringpost. Then a table. In the ring, Teioh is pushed out of the ring when Pantera does a crazy sommersault jumping combination. Pantera rushes back and charges for a suicide plancha. Teioh clutches his ankle in pain as Togo runs and does a plancha onto Pantera. Hamada climbs the ropes and hits a body block onto Togo. Clip to Hamada and Teioh in the ring, as Teioh is whipped into a clothesline. Hamada picks him up for a back body drop, and covers for 2. Hamada picks him up and powerbombs him, covers, but Togo runs and breaks it up at the last minute to resounding boos from the crowd. Teioh sidles out as Pantera runs in the ring. And hits an asai moonsault onto the standing Togo. Cover, 2. Hamada back in, he takes Togo for a Tornado DDT from the turnbuckle. Togo gets picked up, and Hamada holds him in place as Pantera climbs the top turnbuckle. He tries a standing headbutt, but Togo squirrels out at the last minute, and Hamada gets hit instead. Togo picks up Pantera and chops him, but ends up getting whipped into the turnbuckle, where he quickly jumps over the top rope onto the apron. Pantera charges, but Togo punches him and sends him flying as Togo climbs the turnbuckle. Pantera charges again, and hits A CRAZY I don't know how to describe it but it was fucking cool rana. Basically, Pantera grabbed the first rope and did a sort of handstand up where his legs caught Togo's head and brought him flying down. Cover, 2. Pantera charges, but Teioh grabs his feet from the apron which plants Pantera on the mat. Togo walks over and gets a cradle for 3, as the crowd expresses it's disapproval. Togo just stares at the camera. Would have been awesome if it weren't clipped, I bet.

Match 3: The Great Sasuke, Tiger Mask IV, and Shiryu vs. Super Delpin, Gran Hamada, and TAKA Michinoku. This match... whew... I have never seen anything like this before. Simply astounding. I'll try and do it justice, but I know I cannot. As we start, Funaki is holding the ring ropes open for TAKA, who is wearing this crazy leather coat. Cut to Gran Naniwa making his entrance, another amazing thing. Naniwa, since he is a crab, enters in a CRAB COSTUME, complete with huge bulky mask and GIANT CRAB CLAWS. I love Japan. Some audience members have noisy balloons which they deflate as he enters the ring, creating a resounding whistling sound as deflating balloons fly everywhere. Cut to Delphin making his entrance. His valet is extraordinarily cute. Tiger Mask and Sasuke make their entrance together. Shiru just sort of shows up. The ref for this match is the fat M-Pro ref who reffed the M-Pro exhibition match at ECW Barely Legal 1997, their first Paper View. The announcer introduces the competitors, and a flurry of noisy balloons fly everywhere when Gran Naniwa is announced. TAKA and Tiger Mask start. The crowd is nuts for this match, even before it starts, as a normally quiet Japanese wrestling crowd keeps randomly yelling "TAKAA" or "TIGAAA!" Tiger give TAKA a STIFF kick to the knee to open up. They circle, and TAKA gets another stiff shot to the knee. They lock into a test of strength. Tiger looks like he's winning, and hooks his foot behind TAKA's and starts to push TAKA to the ground. TAKA fights back, and pushes Tiger to the ground, but this doesn't last long, as Tiger powers out and throws TAKA down. TAKA quickly stands up, and they lockup again, but this time TAKA drop toe holds Tiger and puts him in a stretch. Then just a facelock. Tiger manages to stand up, but TAKA takes him down and puts him in a headscissors. Tiger begins to squirm up, and is almost in a headstand position when he just flips his way out of it and onto his feet. Awesome. TAKA stands again, kicks and snapmares Tiger, then tries to elbowdrop him, but Tiger reverses and puts TAKA in a chinlock. TAKA squirms out and turns it into an armwrench. Tiger flips out and ends up flipping TAKA by his arm. Tiger charges, but TAKA stands up and clotheslines him. TAKA charges and misses an elbowdrop. TAKA quickly gets back up and tries to kick Tiger, but Tiger catches his leg with his leg and twists it around, putting TAKA to the floor. Keep in mind, Tiger Mask did this using JUST HIS LEG. TAKA gets back up, and Tiger tries a dropkick, but TAKA catches one leg. However, Tiger twists in midair and kicks TAKA in the chest with his other leg. TAKA slides out, and Tiger teases diving out after him, but doesn't. Tiger tags out to Shiryu, as Gran Naniwa makes his way in the ring. They start with some takedowns, and some insane armdrag reversals. Both men get up, and Naniwa charges and grabs Shiryu's leg, taking him down, then puts him in a leglock. Shiryu tries to grab Naniwa's eyes to escape, but the ref disapproves, saying "Heyheyheyheyheyhey!" Naniwa breaks the hold, but still grabbing the leg, tiwsts Shiryu's ankle instead. Shiryu then reverses this into a sort of deathlock on Naniwa. Naniwa armdrags out of it, and wrenches Shiryu's arm on the mat, but Shiryu does a quick armdrag that sets Naniwa on his belly and Shiryu on his feet. Naniwa backs off in a crabcrawl. Naniwa then applauds Shiryu. Kick to Naniwa, then a shoulderblock. They trade takedowns, but after it's done, Naniwa just jumps and mocks Shiryu. Shiryu then just decides to leave and slides out, walking back to his corner. Sasuke, a bit miffed, goes in, as Naniwa tags Super Delphin. They circle, and lockup. Keep in mind, the crowd had been waiting for them to meet in the ring for a long tme. Delphin powers Sasuke to the mat. They lockup again, Sasuke takes Delphin down and puts him in a crazy leglock. Delphin's shin should not bend like that, I'd gather. Delphin grabs Sasuke's tassels on the back of his mask, breaking the hold, as Sasuke loses concentration. Delphin grabs the arm and wrenches, but Sasuke flips and cartwheels his way out and puts Delphin on his back and into a psuedo-Spicy Drop. Insane. Delphin grabs Sasuke's leg and has him in an almost over on his stomach half crab. Sasuke powes out and puts Delphin in a leglock. Delphin reaches the ropes and the crowd goes nuts. Back up, Sasuke takes Delphin down by the leg and locks it again. He's got way too many different leglocks. Delphin hops out and hits an enziguri/enzugiri. Delphin walks and tags TAKA, as Sasuke tags Tiger Mask. TAKA charges Tiger and puts him in the turnbuckle. TAKA charges and chops Tiger, and they eventually charge each other, as Tiger hits a diving clothesline. TAKA eats a ton of stiff kicks, and is whipped, but grabs the ropes to avoid getting kicked. TAKA walks over, but Tiger catches him in a sleeper, but then TAKA elbows his way out of it. TAKA charges again and gets a kick to the face. TAKA goes outside, where Tiger Mask planchas him. Sasuke walks over to see if Tiger is okay. TAKA is in pain, but Funaki provides him with support. Shiryu and Naniwa back in, and they trade takedowns again. A bunch of armdrags ends in Naniwa crabcrawling back, but when he gets up he gets kicked. Whip, Naniwa gets a bulldog. Naniwa grabs Shiryu from behind, but Shiryu gets a low blow in. Shiryu charges, but Naniwa gets a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, as Shiryu decides to leave the ring agian. Sasuke comes in and jaws with Shiryu, when all of a sudden Kaientai show up at ringside to talk to Shiryu. The crowd chants Shiryu's name because they KNOW, but Sasuke gives up trying to talk to Shiryu and heads back into the ring. Sasuke wants Delphin, and gets him. They trade whips and reversals, and Delphin gets a SWANK takedown. They charge each other again, and Delphin gets a dropkick into Sasuke's crossbody attempt. Sasuke back up, Delphin rears back and charges, but Sasuke gets the cartwheel crossbody. Cover, 2. Charging again, Delphin catches Sasuke and ariplane spins him for about 10 seconds while screaming, finally bringing Sasuke down for a backbreaker. Sasuke rolls to the outside, and Delphin rears back to plancha him, but TAKA walks over to yell at Sasuke from the apron. However, this makes Delphin unable to plancha to the outside, so he stops in mid charge to not hit TAKA. He waves TAKA away with his arms, as the crowd goes nuts. Delphin then tags Naniwa, as Tiger Mask walks in. They lockup, then charge at each other. Naniwa hits a shoulderblock. Charges, Tiger rolls a bit to dodge, but Naniwa stops in mid charge and elbowdrops Tiger on the back. Naniwa charges again and clotheslines Tiger Mask somefin' fierce, then goes nuts and yells. Whip, Tiger climbs the corner for a crossbody. Back up, Tiger hits a NICE jumpkick. Naniwa lands outside. Delphin steps in, and Tiger tags Shiryu, who the crowd still chants for. They lockup. Delphin wants a test of strength, but puts his left hand close to the surface of the mat, then when Shiryu reaches for it, quickly pulls it back up and kicks him. Whips, ending with a shoulderblock on Shiryu. Delphin charges and gets a beautiful headscissor takedown. Delphin charges again, but gets caught in a manhattan drop. Delphin sells it like crazy, and then gets dropkicked to the outside, where he lands on a spectator girl and flirts with her. Really funny, actually. TAKA runs in to attack the newly tagged Sasuke, charging him and taking him down with a clothesline. TAKA picks him up, whip, clothesline is ducked, but TAKA gets a back body drop. TAKA jumps the top rope and goes for his flying knee, but Sasuke counters with a dropkick to the chest. TAKA rolls outside, but immediately rolls back in to attack the posing Sasuke. TAKA charges, but Sasuke, who is right on the opposite ropes, back body drops TAKA something crazy. TAKA goes FLYING and lands to the outside. That was insane elevation Sasuke had on him. Sasuke rears back for a plancha, but thinks better of it, seeing as how TAKA is possibly half dead. Sasuke and Shiryu taunt TAKA, who gets help from Funaki back to his corner. Tiger Mask and Gran Naniwa in now. Lockup, but Delphin attacks Tiger from behind. They whip him, and Tiger gets a double boot. Whip again, double clothesline. Tiger is whipped into the corner into TAKA's boot. TAKA comes in and starts to clubber Tiger, but Tiger CLIMBS ON TAKA and gets an armbar out of nowhere. Amazing. TAKA gets the ropes. Tiger starts a kicking TAKA, but he fights them off, and finally TAKA grabs the leg and starts to kick Tiger. Takedown on the leg, TAKA gets a leglock, but Sasuke interrupts. TAKA knocks Sasuke down and gets a leglock on him instead. Super Delphin runs in and gets a Spastic Knee Drop, then picks Sasuke up and teases a tag to Tiger. Sasuke is headbutted, repeatedly. Delphin puts Sasuke in a holding vertical suplex, then gets a psuedo-brainbuster. Cover, 2. Naniwa in, he starts to stomp Sasuke. Scoop, slam, and Gran Naniwa gets on the second rope. Folks, if you've ever played No Mercy, there's a move called the "Crab Elbow." Well, if you haven't seen it, basically it entails the Crab Elbower getting on the second rope, doing a crab dance for about 10 seconds, then performing an elbow drop. Gran Naniwa does this move, right here, right now, only it takes TAKA and Delphin holding Sasuke down for it to work. Cover, Tiger Mask interrupts at 2. Tiger is taken to the corner where he is beaten down by Delphin's team. Then, TAKA picks him up, and they do a combination clothesline/powerbomb sorta like the doomsday device. TAKA covers, 2. TAKA then turns Tiger over into a PAINFUL looking Boston crab. In the corner. TAKA is practically sitting on him. Delphin comes in and puts him in a camel clutch. Sasuke tries to save, but the ref stops him. Tiger is tied into the tree of woe, where Delphin stands on his crotch. Ouch. Naniwa and TAKA then do a spike piledriver on Tiger Mask. Naniwa covers, 2. Tripleteam, Tiger is out. TAKA then puts Tiger in a half crab, Naniwa puts him in a facelock, and Delphin steps on him and cockily poses. YES. Eventually everyone but TAKA gets off, who continues the half crab until Sasuke runs in to kick him. TAKA gets up and takes Sasuke down in one punch, then he and Tiger pick up Tiger. He, Naniwa, and Delphin take turns splashing him in the corner, then Naniwa hits a nice snap suplex and TAKA hits his flying kneedrop. Naniwa covers, Sasuke saves at 2. TAKA picks Tiger up, but is whipped into his corner. Tiger Mask charges, and basically runs up TAKA's stomach and does a flip and lands on his feet, then kicks the charging TAKA square in the chest. TAKA goes outside the ring, Delphin comes in, but eats boot as well. Naniwa in, same results.

Okay, everything gets even more insane from here on in. All of Delphin's team is on the outside now, as Sasuke runs up, jumps the rope, lands on the apron, kicks TAKA, then does a beautiful moonsault onto TAKA. Out comes Shiryu for an insane suicide dive on Delphin. Then Tiger climbs the post for a crossbody onto Naniwa. Sasuke picks Naniwa up and tosses him in the ring. Scoop slam, Sasuke goes up, but Naniwa gets up in time to get a frankensteiner. Cover, 2. Naniwa picks Sasuke up, gets a Sky High powarbomb for 2. Naniwa picks up Sasuke, and sort of almost blows the spot, but Sasuke quickly recovers into a rollup for 2. Really good recovery. Sasuke grabs Naniwa and goes for Sasuke's Edge or whatever it's called, but TAKA jumps the top rope and dropkicks him in the chest. TAKA eats a brutal kick to the stomach from Tiger Mask, and a Tiger Suplex is teased, but Tiger then headbutts the back of TAKA's head then back body drops him. Piledriver to TAKA. TAKA is way in the other corner of the ring, but Tiger climbs the opposite turnbuckle and hits a beautiful diving headbutt. Cover, 2. Funaki looks like he's about to run in at any second. Tiger goes up top, tries a crossbody, but gets a dropkick to the stomach for his troubles. TAKA gets him up, psuedo-brainbuster, 2 count. Michinoku Driver #2! Cover, Shiryu interrupts. TAKA decks Shiryu, and dropkicks Tiger off camera. Tiger lands out on the floor, and TAKA does a BEAUTIFUL moonsault off the top rope onto him. Wow. In the ring, Shiryu is about to eat a tornado DDT from Delphin, but lands on his feet. Delphin thinks he got him and celebrates, but Shiryu rushes from behind him for THE ROLLUP which gets 2. Delphin goes for a snap suplex, but Shiryu lands on his feet AGAIN. Shiryu charges, but Delphin catches him and hits a nasty looking suplex, which Shiryu barely kicks out of. Delphin charges, Shiryu picks him up, but Delphin gets a tornado DDT! Cover, 2. Delphin takes Shiryu up top for another top rope tornado DDT attempt, which succeeds. Delphin gets the Delph Pin, but Sasuke comes out of NOWHERE and dropkicks him in the back at 1. TAKA and Naniwa in now to doubleteam Sasuke. Whip, Sasuke ducks the double clothesline, hits the ropes, jumps, and gets an asai moonsault onto both TAKA and Naniwa. Sasuke covers BOTH of them, and gets 2. The camera goes nuts for a second and we catch a glimpse of Funaki's ass. Everything is righted, and Naniwa holds Sasuke for TAKA, who charges, but Sasuke ducks and Naniwa is hit instead. Naniwa rolls outside, leaving TAKA alone, who gets Sasuke's Edge. Cover, Delphin interrupts. Shiryu totally knocks Delphin the hell out of the ring, then does another insane suicide dive to Delphin. Sasuke charges, and gets a suicide plancha onto Naniwa on the outside. Cut to back in the ring, where Tiger Mask has TAKA in the grips of an attempted Tiger Suplex. The suplex goes, and the ref counts 3! TAKA just lays there like a lawn dart afterwards, his ass and feet still up in the air. Tiger has to ask the ref to make sure that was three. Sweet merciful gods above, incredible, awesome match. I'm going to be generous and toss my DeDeDes around like it's nobody's business, so this one gets
.

Post Match, Sasuke is talking to reporters backstage about the match, and saying something about Tokyo, either his upcomin appearances there, or maybe he's running down how the Tokyo promotions can't pull shit like this off. Anyway, eventually Shiryu and Kaientai walk in, and Sasuke wants to know what the hell the deal is. Shiryu says something like he doesn't appreciate Sasuke hating Kaientai, but Sasuke gets miffed at this, and this eventually leads to the next match, Sasuke vs. Shiryu. But first, we cut to Tiger Mask, who rambles for a looong time about who he'd like to thank, and why, and he thanks Sasuke for helping to train him and teach him how to kick so much ass. The camera pans to reveal Sasuke sitting in a chair, nodding approval.

I think that's all for today. I've probably messed the tape enough from pausing it so many times and besides, this is only the third match, and I've written you a novel. Next time, more M-Pro beakcapping!