Review: WWE Network’s Best 100 Matches: #86 Yoshihiro Tajiri vs Super Crazy (ECW Guilty as Charged 1999)

ECW was/is renowned for its hard-core, brutal style. However, Paul Heyman knew that brutality and bloodshed couldn’t be the only selling point for ECW. Thus, being the clever guy he is, he showcased most styles of wrestling in his promotion. And this match, Super Crazy vs Yoshirio Tajiri, is one of the best mixtures of lucha and Japanese wrestling that you will see!

Just weighing in at over eleven minutes, there is little time to sell or build up to a rousing finish in this match (for example, an early spinning DDT doesn’t affect Tajiri much!). In this context, that’s no criticism! Right from the ringing of the bell, the pace is lightning-quick, and rarely lets up. Sequences fly by so quickly that I had to rewind at least to unravel the blur of movements that I’d just witnessed. Variations of moonsaults, DDTs, powerbombs, hurricanranas, and more delight and amaze. Both wrestlers are determined to utilize every second of ring time to pull off a top rope move and fly onto their opponent from the outside. Highlights include a crazy spinning plancha from Super Crazy to Tajiri on the outside, Crazy’s rolling around the ring-style surfboard, and Tajiri’s sunset slip powerbomb from the corner.

It’s a great bout that suffers from under-selling and audience exhaustion at the end. The moves come so thick and fast that it’s hard to keep up! But deserving of a place in the Best 100 to show that both wrestlers were brilliant cruiserweights, and magic together in the ring.

VERDICT: 8/10. A match light on psychology but heavy on crazy, high-risks moves and non-stop action! One of ECW’s best matches.

Does this match belong in the WWE Network’s Best 100 Matches To See Before You Die? Leave your comments below!

Click here for my review of #87 Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude (30-Minute Iron Man Challenge, WCW Beach Blast 1992)

Click here to view my list of reviews of the WWE Network’s 100 Best Matches To See Before You Die