TAPE 453

Quality: EX (Master Convert)

Length: 5.25 hrs (2 DVD)

INOKI BOM BA YE 2000 PPV - 12/31/00 (This is the PPV version of Inoki's 1st annual MMA/pro hybrid
 	event.  Everything on this show is a work, but Inoki brought in MMA/Pride guys to work with
 	pro wrestlers and they end up doing a combo of shoot-style and pro-style stuff in almost every
 	match.  Kind of an odd concept, but one that ends up working well.  I'd heard a lot of bad
 	stuff about this show prior to watching it, but I ended up highly entertained.  Lots of fun to
 	watch.  I've got a master convert so quality is EX.)

	Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Justin McCully (McCully seems oddly reticent at striking Fujiwara,
 		hitting him with these girly slaps that wouldn't hurt a flea)
	Akira Shoji & Kaoru Uno vs Great Sasuke & Daijiro Matsui (***1/2 - lots of fun!  They start
 		out working shoot-style, then Sasuke tags in and one of his opponents does a pro-style move
 		and the crowd gives a big "OHHHHHH" and it heats up from there.  Really good match, with
 		surprisingly adept pro-style work from the shooters)
	Bas Rutten & Alexander Otsuka vs Naoki Sano & Ricco Rodriguez
	Shinya Hashimoto vs Gary Goodridge
	Naoya Ogawa vs Tadao Yasuda
	Mark Coleman & Mark Kerr vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka (It's too bad that Coleman didn't
 		work UWFI, he'd have been awesome.  I'm a big critic of his often boring MMA style in
		shoots, but here he shows some great throws and suplexes, as does Kerr, who also would've
 		been good in UWFI.  ***)
	Kazushi Sakuraba vs Kendo Kashin (By far, the most disappointing match on the card.  They go
 		well over 20 minutes, with a lot of it being unfocused nothingness.  Crappy finish too.)
	Nobuhiko Takada & Keiji Mutoh vs Ken Shamrock & Don Frye (This is the match where Mutoh debuts
 		his bald head look, to a big pop from the crowd.  Good match, but the finish blows chunks.
 		Shamrock & Frye look like they've got some heat between them here...)