(Written by jom)
Today is the saddest of days, as it is finally time to close the first chapter of Dragon Screw Shark Week. I'm sure many of you will be joining me and praying for a bountiful Shark Week in 2023. However, it isn't over yet, so let's go out with a bang: enter Shinjuku Same. I'm sure many people are confused, currently asking their computer or phone screens "but jom, what about this "Shinjuku Same" has anything to do with SHARK week?". To that, I say "shut the hell up you idiot, you moron, you absolute buffoon" (except in much kinder and respectful words) because Shinjuku Same, when translated, actually means "Shinjuku Shark". Therefore, I have not only the right but the responsibility to spread the good word of Shinjuku Same, and my lord there are many good words to be said. One of the pioneering boxer wrestlers, Same is somewhat of a prototype of guys like Thanomsak Toba, throwing absolutely destructive punches with a quickness and violence not seen by many others. While Katsuji Ueda did the boxing gimmick first, Same is the one to really have cemented it as absolutely beast, and in our final Shark Week post of the year, I hope to share with you the power of the 12 oz gloves.
Shinjuku Same vs. Onryo (FMW 10/22/2001)
I don't care what anyone says, Fuyukiism is one of the greatest things of all time. Only through the insane mind of Kodo Fuyuki could FMW have booked a boxer to take on a literal ghost. Onryo absolutely rocks, with his whole undead spirit gimmick being one of the best in Japanese indy history. The powder in his hair, the spot where he catches the ref's hand during a pinfall count, and the entire storyline between him and GOEMON really cement him as an absolute legend. His actual wrestling ability is worth tons of praise too, with some truly spectacular juniors work and the always beautiful Onryo clutch.
Onryo was awesome as always here. It did take him a bit to start actually doing his usual cool stuff but once he did he was running through the classics left and right. He did the teleportation spot (thrown outside the ring on one side, appear from the other to sneak attack his opponent), the hand catch spot, and even busted out a really nice Onryo clutch. He also just generally did some really nice wrestling, such as an awesome release German suplex and this beautiful counter into a backslide:
Same was busting out some awesome stuff too here, even more so than Onryo. He threw some really cool punches (especially an uppercut onto a rope-hung Onryo), but probably the best one he did was the one gif'd below, where he countered an apron dive by jumping off a chair and just smashing Onryo in the face. He didn't just do cool punches though, as he also got to hit some really cool moves like a running dropkick on the apron à la Roman Reigns, as well as doing an absolute beauty of a moonsault.
I think that overall this was pretty fun, albeit it took a bit to get there. The beginning third of the match was pretty middling and it wasn't helped by a crowd that could be described as "apathetic" at best. Seriously, this crowd was nearly dead silent for the majority of the match, at least until the last section. However, that last section did have a lot of fun stuff (enough to actually wake the crowd up for the most part), so if you're a fan of either guy I'd recommend checking this out.
Rating: B
Shinjuku Same vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (Apache Pro 04/28/2011)
No, you're not reading this wrong. This is the Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, All Japan and NOAH legend and one part of the truly all-time great Kobashi/Kikuchi vs. Can-Am Express match. However, by 2011, he had left NOAH and was applying his craft all over the independent scene, especially in Union Pro as part of Sanshiro Takagi's TKG48 group (side note: if you haven't seen his match against Tenryu from Union Pro in 2011, I highly recommend checking that out, as it's just two old guys way past their prime fighting their hearts out and there really isn't much better in wrestling than that).
Kikuchi was uh... Kikuchi was different than you'd normally think here. The best way to describe him would be rabid, as he was running around like a wild dog, constantly yelling, and had a more fucked grimace on his face the entire match than any Murakami grimace ever. It was really a ton of fun though, with him constantly yelling at Same and the ref about whatever he could be yelling about. There were also like two older dudes in the crowd that were very clearly Kikuchi fans, with Kikuchi having conversations with both of them at different points during the match. Eventually, after getting "weapons" (aka a plastic bag and rope) involved in the match, Kikuchi and Same had this great moment that shows while Kikuchi may have aged greatly, his hard ass head never did.
Same meanwhile was same ole Same, throwing cool punches and just generally being pretty sweet. He was fully there for the comedy stuff, at one point setting up a chair in the ring, making Kikuchi sit on it, and then running off the ropes and punching Kikuchi so hard it sent him (and the chair) tumbling over. He also got into an argument with one of the old Kikuchi dudes which was just amazing. Probably the greatest thing he did in the whole match was this combo into an apron suplex (show below), leading to Kikuchi making one of the most insane faces of the entire match:
I kinda loved this match. It was so dumb, full of dumb spots and Kikuchi making dumb faces, and it really reminded me that some of the best wrestling involves zero braincells. It wasn't anything spectacular or phenomenal or any bullshit terms like that (terms which I will inevitably continue to use even while acknowledging them as bullshit), it was just absolutely fun and a great way to spend 9 minutes.
Rating: A-
Shinjuku Same & Rocky Kawamura vs. Hikaru Sato & Takuya Kai (Tokyo Gurentai 04/04/2017)
As of this post, this is Same's final professional wrestling match. In an interview Same did less than a year ago, he roughly said "I don't wrestle at all. I'm not enough of a wrestler to say I've 'retired' so instead I'm just kind of fading out.", so unless he gets some stroke of inspiration to get back in the ring one more time, this is the end of the shark from Shinjuku. He's here teaming with Rocky Kawamura (who at this point is wrestling kinda like he's a younger, balder Shinjuku Same), and it's certainly a sight to see with two guys deeply inspired by Rocky Balboa teaming up to wear American flag gear and punch people in the face. They're taking on Sato (previously seen in the Tiger Shark article that kicked off this whole series) and Takuya Kai, someone I've genuinely never seen before.
I'm not even going to talk about the other team because Sato was fine but did very little of note and Kai just wasn't very good and not in an interesting way. This was the Rocky tribute match for Kawamura and Same. They spent the whole thing throwing punches at the gut, head, face, and anywhere else they could, and it was awesome. At one point Same even broke up a pinfall by chucking his gloves at Sato. The best moment of the whole match came when Kawamura and Same had the perfect opportunity and busted out this awesome combo:
Overall, this wasn't a match really worth talking about, but it did have some cool moments courtesy of the two boxers in it. Honestly, I don't know if there could've been a better way for Same's career to end than tagging with another Rocky tribute wrestler and throwing as many punches as possible.
Rating: B-
