Hi, Garbage fans. First of all this week, I'll post comment on the FMW 'Winning Road' tape, which features matches from cards held on the 14th, 15th and 21st of March 1997. Surprisingly, there are no Barbed Wire matches, but plenty of Streetfights. Atsushi Onita wrestles on a couple of occasions. Other highlights include Hayabusa getting his mask ripped off, but that really is about it. My main gripe with this tape is that it contains very little balance; tag matches -- both standard and six-man -- seem to take over, and it really gets a bit tedious to watch after a while. A few singles matches would certainly not have gone amiss. Apart from that, it's an above average tape, nothing special but still worth a look.

Now, onto some news . . .

In relevant results from the 31 August Korakuen Hall show: Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka & Koji Nakagawa beat Hisakatsu Oya, Mr Gannosuke & The Gladiator to win the 6-man Tag Team title ; Gedo beat Ricky Fuji to capture the Rocky Mountain Middleweight title ; Crusher Maedomari beat Kaori Nakayama ; Aja Kong beat Miwa Sato

Koji Yamamoto reports that Terry Funk will take on Hiromichi Fuyuki at FMW's major show at Kawasaki Stadium on 28 September. In another new match, Mr Gannosuke & Oya will rumble with Gedo & Jado.

IWA Japan may not be around for much longer. Koji Yamamoto reports that the group is once again in a critical financial situation. The group folded last October following the defection of top stars Tarzan Goto, Mr Gannosuke and Flying Kid Ichihara, and resurfaced in January of this year. The return card featured a brutal six-man tag bout in which one of the combatants was pushed front-first into a glass box and suffered extremely deep wounds, one on his hand which bled profusely. I'll be reviewing this tape when I get the match listings.

In other IWA Japan news, Garbage veteran Tarzan Goto was scheduled to tag with The Great Kabuki on 5 September. Whether Mr Goto makes his stay permanent is unknown.

That's all from me this week. I'll speak with you again at the weekend.

The Garbage Man