Masato Tanaka vs Mike Awesome (ECW, 8-2-1998)

ECW Heat Wave, Dayton, OH

It is Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka.

Awesome enters first, then Tanaka, and when Tanaka enters the ring, they go chest-to-chest immediately. They do separate and let Bob Artese do his job announcing the combatants. The crowd in Dayton welcomes them both.

C&E, Awesome pushes Tanaka into the corner and unloads with kicks. Tanaka reverses a whip to the corner, Awesome steps up and hits a flying back elbow for two. Trade of right hands. Knee to the gut from Tanaka and a side headlock. Tanaka off the ropes, they collide and nobody budges. Awesome motherfucks him. Tanaka caught in a leapfrog and Awesome throws him with an overhead belly-to-belly.

Awesome charges the ropes, Tanaka dumps him to the apron and charges himself, but Awesome hits a slingshot shoulder and a big splash for two. Tanaka on the ropes, Awesome clotheslines him out to the floor. Awesome dives out onto him, nearly flying over Tanaka.

Back into the ring, Awesome goes up top with his usual half-balance and hits a flying clothesline for two. Right hand from Awesome. Another. Whip to the corner, Tanaka moves on the charge and throws a wild right, missing, and Awesome hits a release German. Tanaka bounces up and catches Awesome with a powerslam, nearly dumping Awesome right on his head.

Awesome sent out to the entrance ramp, Tanaka hits a springboard clothesline, then goes out and fetches a chair from the other side of the ring. Chair to the midsection, he sets Awesome up against the ropes and goes to the end of the ramp, then charges with a jumping chairshot.

Awesome back into the ring, Tanaka up top and he hits a missile dropkick. Cover gets two. Awesome dumps Tanaka to the floor in the fireman’s carry, a counter for whatever Tanaka was going for there. Tanaka gets another chair, Awesome has a chair, and they swing them into each others chairs. Awesome’s chair drops, Tanaka cracks him over the back.

Awesome sent into the guardrail, Tanaka follows in but gets backdropped into the crowd. Awesome considers going back into the ring, at least breaks the count, and Shane Douglas, the genius, says, “He likes to smash his opponents into punishment.” OK, Dean Douglas.

Awesome pulls the guardrail out to create more space and dives from the middle of the top rope into Tanaka in the audience! Back over to ringside now. “AWESOME BOMB!” Joey Styles thinks he said “Awesome Mom,” then calls the Awesome Bomb as it hits on Tanaka for two.

Awesome with a slam, then he goes up top again. Flying splash connects. Another two count. Tanaka eats some chairshots, which he just loves to do. Chair knocked away by Tanaka, Awesome slides to duck a clothesline and crushes Tanaka with another chairshot. Cover getso two again. Crowd into the violence.

Awesome sets for the big release Awesome bomb and hits it! Now he’s going out to set up a table at ringside. Awesome back up top with a chair, and he hits a flying chairshot over the head, then points to the table. Douglas wants the pin, but Awesome wants to Awesome Bomb Tanaka out through that table.

Tanaka slides out of the hold, but runs into a boot and a clothesline. Awesome sets for the bomb again, Tanaka slides out again. Forearm from Tanaka, another, and now he’s setting for a power bomb — he tosses Awesome out through the table to the floor!!

Back into the ring after a break to get Awesome back in, Tanaka with a long delayed cover, and Awesome kicks out at two! Tanaka off the ropes with the elbow, off the ropes again and hits the rolling elbow! One, two, NO! Tornado DDT onto a pile of chairs from Tanaka, and that’s the end!

Rating: 4.5/5. Hahahahaha they beat the dogshit out of each other for 12 minutes. What’s not to like? This is not a ’98 MOTYC by star ratings, but it is one by the standards of me loving this match for 20 years now. How many matches from 1998 do I go back to with this much enthusiasm? I’m not the hugest Mike Awesome fan, but he was amazing when he wrestled someone who was willing to die like Tanaka or Spike Dudley, and listen, man, I’m long past asking wrestlers to be tremendous against *everyone*. Awesome filled a niche in my wrestling fandom and filled it well. He wasn’t afraid to take big stupid bumps of his own, either, as seen by the disgusting landing on that power bomb. He was a crazy motherfucker, Tanaka was a crazy motherfucker, and together they made crazy motherfucker magic.