FMW (Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling) - War of Attrition

Rating:
Summary: A Fun Highlights Reel, But In No Way Reel-y Perfect...
Review: FMW's "War of Attrition" is in NOT the classic FMW video you're looking for. All the matches save one have been edited for the benefit of showing the most outrageous, most audacious spots throughout a considerable period of FMW's history (somewhere between 1999 and 2000). Sadly, this editing strips many stars of their presence (I can name many wrestlers here whose potential graces are cut from our sights). Worse, the story is confused once Fuyuki arrives into the scene after supposedly being kicked out.

Highlights

Many ECW stars are featured in this video. The most prominent of them is Balls Mahoney, everyone's favorite chair-swinging freak. Mahoney has been an ECW tag team champ with FMW's own Masato Tanaka, so no wonder he is so highly respected among FMW. Other stars include Tajiri and Super Crazy (who are sadly not shown here in full), Pitbull #1 (who's disappeared from America's ECW since 1998), and even Paul Heyman, the big boss of ECW. Sorry, but Tommy Dreamer and RVD are nowhere to be found.

The top FMW stars are H, Ganosuke and Masato Tanaka. Tanaka plays the big heel who is jealous of H and Ganosuke's friendship and respect. So, Tanaka begins wreacking havoc on FMW by joining ECW. Lots of bloodshed, acrobatics, and smashed noggins abound. This video is definitely for Tanaka fans, since he stars in at least 4 matches in this tape.

H is the legendary man FMW knows best as Hayabusa, except he is unmasked, looking like a Japanese version of Spike from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". He knows many many moves, from Fame-Asser to Rockbottom to the Firebird Splash (not all these moves are named, though). Fans of H and Hayabusa will be pleased that both versions of the aerial master can be seen here several times over.

You like tables? Well, in almost every match, someone falls down a table. Sorry, no ladders.

My favorite scene happens close to the end of the tape. In a match where H and Ganosuke are set to fight Tanaka and Mahoney, Mahoney grabs H and spike piledrives him off the ropes! The driver is so effective that H can't get up, and Mahoney is holding his head in utter shock! Mahoney's white expression is priceless, and so is the next scene, where someone carries an unconscious H over his shoulder. This is absurdity at its very best.

Dan Lovranski and John Watanabe, the so-called infamously bad announcers of FMW, do a much better job calling the shots than any other tape I've seen. It's too bad this isn't the best video from FMW.

"War of Attrition" lacks "Rule the Asylum's" complete matches and "The Enforcer's" flowing narrative style, and should best be worth a rent for wrestling fans. Other people, beware.

Rating:
Summary: More FMW Madness...
Review: Here we have another of Tokyo Pop's endless FMW releases - War of Attrition. The wrestling, announce and production quality of this series has been sort of hit and miss, and that is exactly how I would rate the bottom line on this offering as well.

First the good - the wrestling is actually hard worked and exciting. While some may criticize Tokyo Pop for editing the slow points of the matches, I think what's left is all we really want to see and keeps the action moving. One match in particular - H & Mr. Ganosuke vs. Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda being an exceptional standout worth the price of admission alone. That match is high spot heaven, trust me...

Now, on to the inevitable bad. This series took an big step forward and another one back when they changed the announce teamed with Dan "The Mouth" Lovranski (forward step FYI) and then saw fit to take away the original Japanese track (umm... that was the backwards part). Tokyo Pop, hear my words - choice is good. Worse yet, in this release Lovranski and John Watanabe spend an inordinate amount of time bickering back and forth in support of the baby face (John takes this duty) or the heel (Dan's got that covered). I thought this wrestling announce routine went out with Jesse Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon. It just seems so rehearsed and unnecessary; the people making these production decisions need to realize it's target audience - and respect them.

Again as I have in the past I will recommend this series, if only by default. In a country where there is a severe lack of choice in Pro Wrestling product, any alternatives from the mainstream are welcome. And in this particular release - War of Attrition, the wrestling stands on it's own merits quite well indeed. Now if some North American publisher would just secure the rights to release All Japan, New Japan or Noah Pro Wrestling on DVD - I would be the first to pre-order it. Honest!!!

Rating:
Summary: More FMW Madness...
Review: Here we have another of Tokyo Pop's endless FMW releases - War of Attrition. The wrestling, announce and production quality of this series has been sort of hit and miss, and that is exactly how I would rate the bottom line on this offering as well.

First the good - the wrestling is actually hard worked and exciting. While some may criticize Tokyo Pop for editing the slow points of the matches, I think what's left is all we really want to see and keeps the action moving. One match in particular - H & Mr. Ganosuke vs. Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda being an exceptional standout worth the price of admission alone. That match is high spot heaven, trust me...

Now, on to the inevitable bad. This series took an big step forward and another one back when they changed the announce teamed with Dan "The Mouth" Lovranski (forward step FYI) and then saw fit to take away the original Japanese track (umm... that was the backwards part). Tokyo Pop, hear my words - choice is good. Worse yet, in this release Lovranski and John Watanabe spend an inordinate amount of time bickering back and forth in support of the baby face (John takes this duty) or the heel (Dan's got that covered). I thought this wrestling announce routine went out with Jesse Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon. It just seems so rehearsed and unnecessary; the people making these production decisions need to realize it's target audience - and respect them.

Again as I have in the past I will recommend this series, if only by default. In a country where there is a severe lack of choice in Pro Wrestling product, any alternatives from the mainstream are welcome. And in this particular release - War of Attrition, the wrestling stands on it's own merits quite well indeed. Now if some North American publisher would just secure the rights to release All Japan, New Japan or Noah Pro Wrestling on DVD - I would be the first to pre-order it. Honest!!!