Event: New Japan "Starrcade at the Tokyo Dome"
Location: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 64,500

Reed and Vader start things off. Tie-up, Reed gets Vader into the corner but he gives a clean break. Tie-up again, and Vader clubs Reed in the head. They trade blows in the corner, Irish whip by Reed, reversed, and Vader hits a running splash. Tie-up, wristlock by Vader and he delivers a short-armed clothesline. Vader grabs Reed with am armbar, Irish whip from the corner, but Reed rebounds out and hits Vader with a lariat. Reed picks up Vader and scoop slams him to the mat before tagging in Simmons. Simmons goes for a punch, but Vader blocks it and punches him back. Irish whip by Vader, but Simmons ducks a lariat and nails a spinebuster. Cover, but Bigelow breaks it up. Vader tags in Bigelow, Irish whip by Bigelow and he goes for a big boot, Simmons catches his foot, but Bigelow knocks him to the mat with a enzigieri. Reed runs in the ring, but Bigelow plants him with a dropkick. Bigelow goes for a suplex on Simmons, and eventually he gets him over to deliver the move. Irish whip by Bigelow from the corner, he hits a running splash, and Vader follows him with one of his own. Falling headbutt by Bigelow and he makes the tag to Vader. Irish whip by Vader and he levels Simmons with a lariat. Cover by Vader, but Simmons kicks out at two. Vader tags Bigelow back in, scoop slam by Vader, Bigelow comes off the top turnbuckle with a diving headbutt, but Simmons rolls out of the way. Simmons goes off the ropes and goes for a shoulderblock, but Bigelow doesn't budge. Reed comes in to help, but Bigelow clotheslines them both to the mat. Shoulderblock by Bigelow on Simmons, he goes off the ropes, but Reed pulls the top rope from the outside and Bigelow falls out of the ring. Simmons goes out to get him and scoop slams him onto the floor before throwing him back into the ring. Simmons tags in Reed, double Irish whip to Bigelow, and they hit a double back elbow. Stomps to the head by Reed, he picks up Bigelow, but Bigelow blocks the snapmare and hits a snap suplex. Reed rakes Bigelow in the eyes before he can make it to his corner and stomps him in the head. Punches to the head by Reed and he hits a swinging neckbreaker. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Reed picks up Bigelow and makes the tag to Simmons. Simmons kicks Bigelow in the ribs and lariats him to the mat. Cover, but Bigelow kicks out at two. Clubs to the back by Simmons and he slams Bigelow with a scoop slam. Simmons goes for a headbutt, but Bigelow rolls out of the way.

Simmons quickly tags in Reed, who cuts off Bigelow from making the tag to Vader. Reed chokes Bigelow over the top rope, picks him up, Irish whip, but Bigelow kicks Reed in the head when he goes for a back bodydrop. Reed tags in Simmons, who drops an elbow on Bigelow. Cover, but it gets a two count. Simmons goes for a scoop slam, but Bigelow reverses it with an inside cradle for a two count. Simmons comes back with stomps, cover, but Vader breaks it up. Simmons tags in Reed, body slam by Reed, he goes to the top turnbuckle and delivers the elbow drop. Cover, but Bigelow barely kicks out. Reed applies a reverse chinlock, Bigelow struggles to his feet, elbows out of the hold, but Reed tags in Simmons. Kick to the ribs by Simmons and he delivers a dropkick. Cover, but Bigelow kicks out. Irish whip by Simmons, but Bigelow tags Vader while he is rebounding against the ropes and then headbutts Simmons as he pancakes on the mat. They ignore the tag (so one of the three didn't know what was going on), vertical suplex by Bigelow and this time he makes a tag to Vader that counts. Vader picks up Simmons, Irish whip and he hits the Vader Attack. Simmons tags in Reed, Irish whip by Vader and he hits a short-armed clothesline. Vader clubs Reed against the ropes, Irish whip, Reed ducks the clothesline though and hits a series of elbows. Irish whip by Reed and he connects with the shoulderblock. Cover, but Vader kicks out at two. Reed tags in Simmons, Irish whip by Simmons and he catches Vader with a powerslam. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Reed comes in and they hit a double vertical suplex, but Bigelow dumps Simmons out of the ring. Reed goes to the top turnbuckle, but Vader avoids the dive. Running splash by Vader, and he picks up the three count! Your winners: Big Van Vader and Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow

Post match: Simmons and Reed get into a fight, thus ending the Doom tag team once and for all.

Match Thoughts: I love these guys, but this match was disappointing. Doom dominated 90% of the match, which is fine except that Bigelow and Vader are so awesome on offense that I would have enjoyed the match more if it had been more even. It doesn't help that this is the third tag match in a row that followed the Tag Team Formula, which usually isn't as prevalent in Japan as it is in America. I wonder if the language barrier (which is no excuse for this match) forced them to put on more simplistic matches. It didn't help here that the hot tag sequence was messed up, which I think was Simmons fault but might have been Vader's. The end was anti-climatic as Reed had been dominating the entire match but was beaten by a single running splash. True, the splash was from Vader, but it didn't look as good considering there should have been a bit more leading up to it. I won't say the match was bad as there were entertaining parts but as a whole it was a pretty dull beatdown put on by Doom followed by a lackluster finish. Score: 6.0

Back to Match Reviews