8 Essential Tajiri Matches

When Tajiir first burst onto the American independent scene in ECW circa December 1998, he was a clean-shaven, blue and white trunks-wearing nondescript babyface. His performances against Super Crazy, Jerry Lynn and Little Guido earned him plaudits, but to truly become a standout character he needed to change up his act.

Taking inspiration from one of his wrestling idols, The Great Muta, Tajiri began wearing baggy pants, acting a little off-kilter and spewing the venomous green mist. The new direction did him a load of good and reinvigorated rivalries with some of his favourite opponents, including perennial rival Super Crazy.

Really, there are many, many Tajiri/Crazy matches I could have picked to showcase here - they must have wrestled each other a hundred times over the years - but I'm going for a Mexican Death Match from the January 21, 2000 episode of ECW on TNN. It's different from their more 'exhibitiony' matches, with a hitherto unseen level of violence from the high-flyers.

Tajiri dropkicked three steel chairs into Super Crazy, who was hanging upside down in a tree of woe, within the first couple of minutes, busting him wide open. He then threw a couple of chairs in Crazy's direction, but they missed and sailed into the crowd, sending the amped-up Arena faithful into a frenzy.

A top rope double stomp through a table did little to calm them down and Crazy looked like he was done for. Tajiri's cruel mocking seemed to spurn him on, though, and the luchador came back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and springboard moonsault before the action spilled to the crowd, where Crazy hit a, well, crazy moonsault off the bleachers, through Tajiri, through a table.

Back inside the squared circle, the men traded big moves, with Tajiri's handspring back elbow and bridging German making an appearance, as did a rarely-seen Asai moonsault into the crowd. After yet more counters and big moves, Tajiri unleashed the green mist, but it was not enough: Super Crazy fought through the blindness to counter a hurricanrana into a powerbomb through a table for the win.

The Crazy/Tajiri feud is remembered by fans for its many spirited athletic contests, but this Mexican Death Match proved they could produce the grimy, hardcore drama that ECW was known and loved for.