04/08/2004 Pro Wrestling World-1: Masato Tanaka & Homicide def. CM Punk & CW Anderson in 13:59.

There was early pairing off between guys from each other’s eras, with some Punk vs. Homicide and Tanaka vs. Anderson action. It probably made the match flow better, but also robbed us of the awesome fucking pairing of Homicide and Anderson. My presumptions about the greatness of the battle between both men were confirmed when Anderson spiked the smaller Homicide on a spinebuster with as much respect as a tailback has for a football after a score. Punk and Anderson worked Homicide’s arm, which played to both of their styles. Homicide and Tanaka did a couple of double team spots right out of the Midnight Express/Motorcity Machineguns playbook, and the latter weren’t even a team yet. All we needed were buddy-style vignettes with these two. The finishing sequence with Tanaka and Anderson, leading to a Tanaka-roaring elbow, was well-worked. This was a good match that felt like emptying your action figures from a box. It wasn’t always crisp, but it was a lot of fun. ***1/4