| Simon Watches Other Japan - 1990s; NJPW! M-Pro! Shootstyle! WAR! | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 6 2013, 02:20 AM (4,308 Views) | |
| Big Tuna | Nov 26 2013, 10:03 PM Post #41 |
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Kensuke Sasaki/Koji Kanemoto/Shinjiro Ohtani vs. Kazuo Yamazaki/Yuji Nagata/Tokimitsu Ishizawa, NJPW (2/18/1996) Fun stuff. Everyone but Ishizawa and KENSKEE brought solid matwork to the opening half. Koji and Ohtani are young punks who respect nothing, and Yamazaki makes them pay. It never really got to that next level, but was a solid little 10-15 minute midcard match. The total inexperience of Nagata and Ishizawa held it back a lot. Sasaki put on one of his strangleholds on Ishizawa to win. **1/2 Keiji Mutoh/Jushin Liger vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan/Hiro Saito, NJPW (2/18/1996) The heels jump the faces on the floor and destroy them with cheating and weapons to take over. Mutoh is a bitch in the ring, but when he tags out to Liger, LIGER IMMEDIATELY THROWS TENZAN OUT, PULLS THE PADS UP, AND POWERBOMBS HIM ON THE WOOD FLOOR. FUCK YEAH REVENGE. Mutoh gets isolated again, and Liger kills it on the hot tag. Mutoh distracts the ref by putting a Figure Four on Saito, but it merely allows Tenzan to low blow Liger, and he hits a Diving Headbutt to win. This guy is the worst! *** Masahito Kakihara [UWFi] vs. Shinjiro Ohtani [NJPW], UWFi (3/1/1996) Heated, stiff, and short. Perfect shoot-style. Kakihara is a BIG deal, so Ohtani is in another huge match. He gets rushed and demolished quickly, but shows a ton of heart and keeps somehow getting up. Due to the brutality of Kaki's initial onslaught, it's a big deal when Ohtani catches kicks into holds and strikes back. Kakihara gets mad about it and Ohtani's use of suplexes, so he drops him about on his temple with a Saito Suplex, hits a Lariat, and then makes him pass out to a Sleeper to win. ***1/4 Nobuhiko Takada [c] [UWFi] vs. Shiro Koshinaka [NJPW] [IWGP Heavyweight Championship], UWFi (3/1/1996) Koshinaka invades UWFi to try and reclaim NJPW's belt, but Takada forces it to be defended under shoot-style rules, so Shiro is somewhat at a loss. He can do matwork, but it's all basic pro wrestling stuff that won't beat anyone. He comes in with actual pro wrestling, not even trying to play Takada's game after a few moments, which is such a logical course of action. Talada wears him out with kicks instead of holds, and he makes him tap to the Jujigatame all the same. ![]() *** |
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| Big Tuna | Nov 28 2013, 12:09 AM Post #42 |
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The Great Sasuke/Shiryu/Tiger Mask IV vs. Super Delfin/Gran Naniwa/TAKA Michinoku, Michinoku Pro (3/16/1996) M-Pro's golden age begins. This is another wonderful six man, but this time, they start with really amazing matwork. TAKA and Hayashi (Shiryu) have improved a ton and now are approaching greatness in their own right, meaning it's not on Sasuke and Delfin to lead entire matches anymore. TM4 is Sasuke's new protege and does a good job in his first big match (in this review). Hayashi and TAKA both show heelish tendencies, more than any of their teammates, so this ALSO has foreshadowing to it. Delfin's team controls it, and it goes into an INSANE finishing run. Kaz Hayashi as Shiryu is the MVP, as he had two incredible dives, some brilliant evasions in a run vs. Delfin, and really stands out the most. There's two different dive trains, and after the second, TM4 hits TAKA with the Tiger Suplex to win. ***1/2 Jushin Liger [c] vs. Shinjiro Ohtani [IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (3/17/1996) This was the best of the young guys' title matches yet. Ohtani goes after the arm of Liger immediately, and has some painful holds. Liger actually sells in transition, which is really all I can ever ask for this style. The finishing run tells the story that Ohtani can't win unless he stays on top of Liger COMPLETELY. Liger comes back, so Ohtani tries to go after the arm, but because he didn't stay on it earlier, Liger's mostly worked through the pain. Then, he gets a second break and has it won maybe after a Missile Dropkick to the back of the head and a Dragon Suplex, but he pulls Liger up and hits a SECOND Dragon Suplex, but because of where he dropped him, Liger can get his foot in the ropes to save his ass. Ohtani is overcome with grief instead of immediately following up, so Liger catches him running with the mother of all Shotei's, which is just enough to stun him for three seconds. ***3/4 Shinya Hashimoto/Junji Hirata vs. Harlem Heat [WCW], [IWGP Tag Team Championship], NJPW (3/20/1996) This isn't great or anything, but Hash and Hirata get a surprisingly good match out of Booker and Stevie. Booker in particular shows a lot of flashes of his future fire and skill when against Hashimoto. The finishing run is full of really cool stuff from Booker, as Hash generally lets him show off before he ends the show with one of the most brutal Brainbusters ever. **3/4 Chris Benoit [WCW] vs. Shinjiro Ohtani [Vacant WCW Cruiserweight Championship], NJPW (3/20/1996) This is JIP, but we still get 10 minutes. Benoit is in control when it starts, and that's Benoit dismantling a young punk, so it's great. Ohtani has a sweet dive to transition into his comeback, and he again survives a lot, including a Diving Headbutt, Triple Germans, and a disgusting Snap Powerbomb. Ohtani finally finds the missing piece of the puzzle, as he innovates a Springboard Flying DDT to win the title! *** Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, RINGS (4/29/1996) Lots of really solid matwork going on here. Yamamoto continues to be a total killer, kicking ass with his strikes and all his matwork being incredibly tight and slick with the counters. Kohsaka is out of his league in his first big match, as he's entirely mat focused, but he gets made to look fairly good against a superior. This dragged on a little long with leglocks for the kind of match it was, before Yamamoto wins with a Heel Hook. **1/2 Genichiro Tenryu [WAR] vs. Tatsumi Fujinami, NJPW (4/29/1996) This is only 10 minutes, but it's Tenryu for 10 minutes. AND IT STARTS HOT WITH A FUCKING TOPE SUICIDA FROM FUJI! WHOA! TENRYU BLOCKS A SECOND WITH A STRAIGHT PUNCH! Fujinami's nose gets busted open bad, in one of the worst bloody noses I've ever seen in wrestling. Tenryu gets super violent, including nose punches, nose chops, and a double punch to the nose. Fujinami has spirited comebacks, but Tenryu dodges a Knee Drop off the top, and hits a Northern Lariat and then a regular Lariat right after to win. ***1/2 Jushin Liger [c] vs. The Great Sasuke [IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (4/29/1996) This was so disappointing. Liger TEARS up Sasuke's knee in the first half, but then Sasuke just entirely ignores it when the finishing run comes around and they trade moves. Really cool moves that are crisp and build well upon each other, but they wasted half of an 19 minute match, so fuck that. Sasuke wins with a Tiger Suplex, and good for him, but what a disappointing god damn match. **1/2 Nobuhiko Takada [c] [UWFi] vs. Shinya Hashimoto [IWGP Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (4/29/1996) This is beautiful. It's only 13 minutes, but that might be for the best. This feels like a fight the entire way through and the entire atmosphere is electric. Hash is constantly swinging for the fences. Takada does what he usually does, which is going straight ahead with kicks and arm holds. Hash gets rocked early on with face kicks, but unlike Mutoh, it doesn't shake him into making mistakes, and unlike Koshinaka, he doesn't try and wrestle with Takada. He throws all strikes at him and they're completely insane, especially the slaps. Takada comes back for more kicks, and signals for the end, BUT HASH DUCKS AND SWEEPS HIS LEG OUT TO STAY ALIVE! YEAH! He hits the Brainbuster and puts on a Triangle Choke, and Takada taps! Hash has the belt back, and all is right in NJPW. ***3/4 |
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| Big Tuna | Nov 29 2013, 10:46 PM Post #43 |
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Shinya Hashimoto/Shinjiro Ohtani vs. Kazuo Yamazaki/Yuji Nagata, NJPW (5/28/1996) This is a lot of fun. They're building up to Hash/Hitata vs. Yamazaki/Iizuka in a few weeks, so the focus is on Yamazaki vs. Hash. This is a fantastic rivalry since Hash finally has another real non-Mutoh or Chono rival and an opponent who isn't a total bitch like Mutoh. Ohtani also is on fire in a quest to fight the big names, and Nagata tries (and fails) to step up. Nagata pisses off Hash and Ohtani pisses off Yamazaki and both die. Yamazaki makes Ohtani tap to a heel hold. *** Black Tiger II vs. Shinjiro Ohtani, NJPW (6/5/1996) This is part of the BOSJ tournament again, as 1996 is a huge breakout year for Eddie, who had previously always been in the middle of the juniors division, always dropping stuff to aces like Liger and Benoit and putting over Ohtani and Koji. The matwork is wonderful of course. Eddie goes after the leg with some awesome vicious work. He takes it to the floor too, so it's not the usual matwork. Eddie stays on it entirely and even uses a chair to the leg on the floor. OHTANI SELLS, SO THIS IS GREAT! Ohtani has this wonderful sense of desperation in the second half when he struggles to avoid leg holds. Ohtani shines big with his fighting spirit~ again by kicking out of the BT Bomb and Frog Splash. Eddie makes a mistake, and Ohtani hits the Missile Dropkick and Dragon Suplex, AND OHTANI ACTUALLY WINS! AWESOME! ***1/2 Shinya Hashimoto/Junji Hirata/Osamu Nishimura vs. Kazuo Yamazaki/Takashi Iizuka/Yuji Nagata, NJPW (6/5/1996) More build for the tag. This isn't great, but it's fun enough, and all the Hash/Yamazaki stuff is great. Nagata shows flashes of future greatness again, and Hirata and Iizuka are both very solid again. Yamazaki keeps going after Hash's legs to try and get him weakened before the title match in a week, but it's always broken up or sees Hash fighting back. Nagata gets wiped out with a Lariat from Hirata, and he then hits a sweet Bridging Butterfly Suplex to win. **3/4 Wild Pegasus vs. Black Tiger II [1996 BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS - SEMI-FINALS], NJPW (6/11/1996) Hey, it's Benoit vs. Eddie in their best non-US match together! I can talk about everything great here, but it's a standard junior formula match. Matwork in the first half, big offense in the second. But it's made better by the fact that it's two of the greatest of all time doing it, so there's no ridiculous limbwork focus in the matwork, and it's all incredibly tight and flows super well. Benoit transitions into a real control segment instead of just going into moves and gets on a quasi-Ortonlock for a lot of it, as it's one of the tighter Chinlocks in a while. Benoit being Benoit, puts fucking psychology into a chinlock too, as when it fails, he goes to a Sleeper, and when that fails, he goes to a Rear Naked Choke the next time, before Eddie fights all the way back. They do lots of huge huge shit and Benoit keeps going to the Sleeper to shut down Eddie's comebacks before THEN doing his own big offense. Eddie finally gets to Benoit's level of brutality with a series of straight face punches on the top and a Super Brainbuster to win! **** Jushin Liger vs. Black Tiger II [1996 BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS - FINALS], NJPW (6/12/1996) ANOTHER epic from Eddie in this tournament. The matwork is completely different from Eddie/Benoit, as it's now a lot quicker and more Cruiserweight-y. This isn't as good as Benoit/Eddie for the fact that the matwork isn't cut off and turned into something with focus, and they just trade cool holds for a while before the pace picks up. They make up with insanity, as Eddie takes a bump off the top to the floor off of a Shotei, and Liger hits a flip dive to him while lying on the floor. The bombs come out after that and they do a lot of new things. Liger is breaking out more and more Shoteis, and Eddie uses lucha counters instead of a lot of suplexes. Eddie hits the Super Brainbuster again, and wins the tournament! ***1/2 Shinya Hashimoto/Junji Hirata [c] vs. Kazuo Yamazaki/Takashi Iizuka [IWGP Tag Team Championship], NJPW (6/12/1996) This killed it. Hash and Yamazaki HATE each other now, and every time they touch, it's magic. Hash has a bad wheel, and Iizuka goes after it both to stay alive, and because he wants a big win and it's the only way that's realistically going to happen. Yamazaki has a taped up hand and ribs though, and Hirata now HAS to do the heavy lifting. Hash gets brutal on the ribs when he's in also. Yamazaki is fucked, but Iizuka steps up huge by turning the focus on Hash's leg. He's hurt just long enough for Yamazaki to slip Hirata into a Jujigatame, and he taps out! UPSET CITY! **** |
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| Big Tuna | Nov 30 2013, 02:00 AM Post #44 |
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The NJPW matches from 6/17 are from "SKYDIVING J", a massive interpromotional show. This is important as it lays the groundwork and the show marks the announcement of the Super J Crown tournament for August 5th, 1996, where eight junior belts will be theoretically unified, and one guy walks out with eight of them. Shinjiro Ohtani [c] vs. Kazushi Sakuraba [UWA Junior Light Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (6/17/1996) They have another good under 10 minute quasi-shoot-style match. This time, Saku rushes Ohtani to start with a German Suplex, so this is immediately WAY hotter than the first match. Saku throws him off with that and forces him on the mat for stuff. Ohtani is thrown off and tries to do big stuff to come back, but it's way early and Saku isn't weak enough, so he keeps dodging. Ohtani eventually gets in his sweet Missile Dropkick, and hits the Dragon Suplex. Just to be a dick, he puts on the Crossface Chickenwing and Saku taps. **3/4 Super Delfin [c] vs. TAKA Michinoku [CMLL Welterweight Championship], NJPW (6/17/1996) FUCK YEAH M-PRO STUFF! TAKA has now formed the full KDX, and Funaki is watching in his corner. This is strange as they randomly go to holds in the middle of huge spots, and it keeps cutting off the natural progression. And while that's a big flaw, they went JUST nuts enough with really cool spots and dives to overcome the first half. TAKA accidentally botches and invents the Schwein, which rules. Delfin rolls through an O'Connor Roll and quickly gets a Tiger Suplex for the win. ***1/4 Ultimo Dragon [c] vs. Gran Naniwa [WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (6/17/1996) This is JIP, but is a bunch of big spots for eight minutes. Ultimo is actually great by now, and hits all his big stuff super clean until the end. Delfin again holds his own against a bigger name and comes out looking like an actual threat, although not a huge one. Ultimo fucks up a Frankensteiner at the end, failing to grip Naniwa, so he almost head-plants and is KO'd. Ultimo struggles with continuing before he puts on a La Magistral to weakly end it. **1/2 Dick Togo [c] vs. Jushin Liger [British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (6/17/1996) This is the gem of the show. Togo has Shiryu in his corner on the floor. Dick Togo is the king of all heels and gets actual heel heat in a Japanese juniors environment. The matwork rules, and Togo breaks out a killer Tope Suicida to take over quickly. He's a total asshole to Liger while also breaking out a ton of brutal offense, and is the perfect bad guy. Liger fights back by going after Togo's taped up elbow and returns Togo's brutality in kind. Togo comes back and Shiryu sprays magic ice spray on his elbow to help him suck it up. Togo hits an insane Hilo to the floor, but doesn't know when to quit, so Liger catches him running off the apron and hits a Powerbomb. AND A POWERBOMB ON THE UN-PADDED FLOOR. Togo finally just kicks Liger in the dick to stay alive. He cannot win as he lacks Liger's firepower and has a bad arm, but he's too stubborn to go down to a Brainbuster or Liger Bomb, so Liger has to KO him with the Shotei to win. **** The Great Sasuke/Super Delfin vs. Dick Togo/TAKA Michinoku/Shiryu, Michinoku Pro (6/23/1996) Kaientai Deluxe has now formed in full, and MPRO's reign begins. Due to the handicap, the M-Pro Superpowers go nuts with dives to try and even it up, even going after Funaki and MEN'S Teioh in KDX's corner. They stretch the young punks for a bit, but it's still 3 on 2, and eventually, the KDX squad uses that. KDX cheats a ton and has these amazing double and triple team moves that are innovative 17 years after the fact. This is all about getting over the victory of their numbers game and setting up future stuff. Sasuke is a great FIP, and Delfin's hot tag is killer. KDX separates them with a crowd brawl, AND SHIRYU HITS SASUKE IN THE KNEE WITH A CHAIR AS TOGO TEARS DELFIN'S MASK! WHOA! FUNAKI PUTS SASUKE THROUGH A TABLE WITH A SHIN BREAKER! Delfin is all alone and destroyed in 3 on 1 and finished with DAT BACK SENTON from Togo. ***1/2 Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Tastsumi Fujinami vs. Nobuhiko Takada/Masahito Kakihara, UWFi (6/26/1996) Fujiwara gets set loose in a place where he can just do matwork forever, and it RULES. Fujinami adapts very well, and while the NJPW/UWFi feud is over, Fujinami and Takada are still very heated with each other. Takada starts with the slaps, so Fujinami drops him with a straight Suplex to fuck with him. Fujiwara mauls Kakihara and treats him like a piece of shit, so Kakihara mans up too! Fujiwara responds with cheating because he doesn't give a singular fuck about anything. Kakihara starts lighting him on fire at the end, so he lures him into missing a Spinning Wheel Kick and puts on a gross Heel Hook to pull the rabbit out of the hat and win. **** Volk Han vs. Mitsuya Nagai, RINGS (6/29/1996) This is also great! I love the year 1996 in puro. Lots of different styles, all just killing it. Volk Han guides young Nagai through a bunch of insane matwork that he pulls out of thin fucking air. It's about 10 minutes, and proves that the best Volk Han fights are these quick frantic affairs. Nagai has to kick and knee Han to stay alive, but Han keeps taking him down with ease. e rocks Han when they stand up, so Han just refuses at the end and only gets up to his knees so he can immediately take Nagai back down. Volk Han blocks an STF, gets to his knees, and pulls Nagai back into a Rear Chinlock for the tap. Dude wins with a rear chinlock because he's Volk Han. *** Kazuo Yamazaki/Takashi Iizuka [c] vs. Masahiro Chono/Hiroyoshi Tenzan [IWGP Tag Team Championship], NJPW (7/16/1996) This ruled also! Yamazaki and Tenzan are both fired up, but this did NOT need 23 minutes to work. The time kind of dragged it down, as it let Chono kill a lot of time in the middle, and reminded us how Iizuka isn't really that great when apart from the Yamazaki/Hash wars. They picked it up again for a solid finishing run, and isolated Iizuka for it. Yamazaki kept saving, but once Tenzan took him out, he was in there with the god Chono, and he tapped to the STF. ChoTen regain the belts. **3/4 Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera, WAR (7/20/1996) ALL THE SPOTS! They get about 8-9 minutes and basically go crazy, aside from one random leglock in the middle. Juvi flips around and invents shit by accident, and Rey bumps like the lunatic that he was. They add in Rey/Psicosis spots ON TOP of doing the ECW Rey/Juvi match spots, so this is wonderful. Rey gets a Springboard Frankensteiner for the win. ***1/4 Genichiro Tenryu [WAR] vs. Yoji Anjoh [UWFi], WAR (7/21/1996) Anjoh is the dick invader now, and even comes off as more of an asshole than Tenryu somehow. And Tenryu decides to punch him as hard as he can in the face. Anjoh gets rough too but you can't pull this off in Tenryu's house. Anjoh throws him some headbutts and Suplexes too. He almost pulls off the win, but Tenryu catches a kick AND DROPS HIM WITH A STRAIGHT RIGHT HAND TO THE MOUTH. Tenryu hits a Powerbomb, BUT ANJOH KICKS OUT INTO A FACE-DOWN JUJIGATAME! HOLY SHIT! TENRYU GETS TO THE ROPES AND IMMEDIATELY HITS A LARIAT WHERE HE BASICALLY JUST PUNCHES ANJOH IN THE MOUTH AGAIN! ANOTHER POWERBOMB ENDS IT. Awesome final minute or so, as the Jujigatame looked like an actual finish before Tenryu shut it down. ***1/4 Edited by Big Tuna, Nov 30 2013, 02:00 AM.
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| Big Tuna | Nov 30 2013, 03:32 PM Post #45 |
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Shinya Hashimoto vs. Riki Choshu, NJPW (8/2/1996) This is Choshu's last ever G1 Climax tournament, so he brings it EXTRA hard and goes out with style. Hash isn't stepping aside at all, so this is notoriously stiff match. Choshu is extra aggressive against a pupil who surpassed him YEARS ago. It's really just a fight, there's not a ton I can say. In a notorious moment, the end comes after a series of Lariats to Hash, and Choshu almost breaks his arm on the last one, which makes one of the loudest skin on skin sounds ever as a result. Choshu wins, but destroys himself to do it. ***1/2 Great Sasuke [c] vs. Masayoshi Motegi [SUPER J CROWN TOURNAMENT - QUARTERFINALS - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (8/2/1996) Solid, but not a lot else. Motegi is obvious fodder, and you'd think someone better could have been chosen in that case, but whatever. Sasuke wins with a Tiger Suplex and moves on, obviously. **1/4 Jushin Liger vs. Ultimo Dragon [SUPER J CROWN TOURNAMENT - QUARTERFINALS], NJPW (8/2/1996) This is also a disappointment, as it's three minutes. They throw stuff out, but Ultimo gets the BIG upset as he traps Liger with a La Magistral cradle to get the win in a surprisingly short match. *1/2 Shinjiro Ohtani vs. Negro Casas [SUPER J CROWN TOURNAMENT - QUARTERFINALS], NJPW (8/3/1996) This was a lot of fun, but ultimately not great. The matwork is cool, but doesn't really go anywhere, and Ohtani just turns it into doing spots by the end. Casas hangs with him fine, but he's not really a spotty kind of wrestler, and seems out of place. This tournament seems very poorly put together, in terms of opening round talent. Ohtani hits the Springboard Spinning Wheel Kick for the win. **1/4 El Samurai vs. Gran Hamada [SUPER J CROWN TOURNAMENT - QUARTERFINALS], NJPW (8/3/1996) This is the best opening round match, as it's very good, and not just kind of decent. The matwork is wonderful, and Hamada (while not actually a better wrestler than Casas) manages to adapt a lot better to the junior heavyweight style after his run in M-Pro in the summer of 1995. They transition to bigger stuff well, and Samurai wins with the Samurai Bomb, which is essentially just a one-shoulder Powerbomb. **3/4 Gran Naniwa[c] vs. Shiryu [Central American Middleweight Championship], Michinoku Pro (8/3/1996) Nobody has any idea how Naniwa and M-PRO got a Central American title, but this still rules. Lots of quality matwork, and Shiryu tried to target the arm. Naniwa never really sold it at all, since he's not THAT good, so Hayashi gives up and they just do some spots. Hayashi takes a beautiful bump off the top to the floor, and Togo and Teioh came out to cheer him on. Shiryu wins the title with a Bridging Dragon Suplex, and KDX takes away a title from M-Pro. **3/4 Yuki Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda, BattlARTS (8/4/1996) This is kept short at about eight minutes, and better for it. As always with them, it's a wrestler vs. striker dynamic, as Ikeda tries to lure Ishikawa off the mat and Ishikawa tries to catch Ikeda's limbs to take him down. The crowd is entirely dead for some reason, making this come off like the Japanese version of some 2004-5 IWA-MS match with two amazing wrestlers in front of what sounds like 15 people. Yuki throws amazing punches when provoked, but his anger gets him off the mat and Ikeda nukes him with these brutal knees. Yuki throws his own before trying to grab Ikeda for a hold, but Ikeda lifts him, AND ISHIKAWA PULLS OFF A SHOOT-STYLE HURACANRANA! He hits a series of punches to the jaw on the mat, a headbutt, and then sinks in a Rear Naked Choke for the win. ***1/2 Shinjiro Ohtani vs. Ultimo Dragon [SUPER J CROWN TOURNAMENT - SEMI-FINALS], NJPW (8/4/1996) This is another 1996 juniors classic. I don't think it holds up ENTIRELY, and it's again due to questionable selling. Ohtani works the arm super hard for a few minutes, and it goes nowhere. Ultimo at least sells on transition, but this is nasty stuff that you'd expect some long term acknowledgement of. They go into HUGE and amazing stuff right after, and Ultimo never really no-sells it so much as ignores it, so it doesn't poison the well as much as becomes a minor annoyance. Ohtani is now actually coming close to these big wins instead of just showing a lot of heart. They play off the La Magistral finish to Liger/Ultimo, and Ohtani kicks out. Finishing run is AMAZING as Ohtani comes within a breath of winning and I got super into it, despite knowing the result. Ultimo blocks a Superplex with a Super Gourdbuster, and hits a Running Liger Bomb to win! ***3/4 The Great Sasuke [c] vs. El Samurai [SUPER J CROWN TOURNAMENT - SEMI-FINALS - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (8/4/1996) This fails because it follows that. That's really the only problem here, because it's just not GREAT. Very good as usual with Samurai, and they work this mostly on the mat where it's all very good, but doesn't really go anywhere. Nobody buys a Ultimo/Samurai final now, so nobody thinks Samurai has a shot at all and the drama just isn't there. This should have gone on before Ultimo/Ohtani. Sasuke wins with the Razor's Edge. **3/4 The Great Sasuke [c] vs. Ultimo Dragon [SUPER J CROWN TOURNAMENT - FINALS - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (8/5/1996) The matwork is again, good, but goes absolutely nowhere. They move into the big spots we all knew they'd do, and that's pretty good. They have enough new things and counters to make this worthwhile. It's still weirdly disappointing as with all the Sasuke in NJPW matches in 96, as they don't hit the highs you know they have in them. The finish being botched is the biggest knock here, as the ref counts to three as Ultimo kicks out, and the bell rings without him calling for it, so they just sort of give it to Sasuke. Given his shortish reign with it, you have to think that Ultimo was always intended to win it. **3/4 ![]() Which Ultimo later tops when he regains the belts and adds WCW's cruiser belt. ![]() Shinya Hashimoto vs. Kensuke Sasaki, NJPW (8/6/1996) Hash is coming in with a hurt knee, and Sasaki has now adapted his all-time classic TAKE THE DREAM music, so this is unfair. Kensuke IMMEDIATELY does after the knee, and Hash's selling is amazing. Both in terms of the knee injury and his facial selling of the fact by the end that this is going to cost him the match. Hash can beat back Sasaki, but he goes after the knee to cut it off every time. Doctors even come out to check on Hash on the floor, but he refuses help and gets back in. He can't stand or move much, but he spits in Sasaki's face after two Lariats, and falls into some Judo throw that drops him on his head, and Sasaki pins the champ. ![]() ***1/2 I can't find it, but Choshu goes on to win the tournament in a feel good story, beating Chono in the finals. Edited by Big Tuna, Nov 30 2013, 03:32 PM.
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| Big Tuna | Nov 30 2013, 09:53 PM Post #46 |
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Naoki Sano [UWFi] vs. Genichiro Tenryu [WAR], UWFi (8/17/1996) Pinfalls now randomly count, so this is strange for UWFi. Tenryu invades WAR and again cements himself as the greatest invader in the history of wrestling. Tenryu actually does matwork with him instead of being an asshole to begin but once Sano throws a kick, Tenryu comes out of his shell and lights him up. Sano mostly just throws kicks and Tenryu throws slaps, punches, and chops, and everything makes sense and is beautiful. Sano tries to do mat stuff to win, but they eventually go back to smacking each other as hard as possible. They get madder and madder and it's a vicious circle. Sano gets an actual welt on his face from the punches and slaps. He misses his big comeback near the end of a wheel kick, so Tenryu nukes him with a Lariat across the throat and a Powerbomb to win. ***3/4 Jushin Liger/Gran Hamada/Gran Naniwa vs. Dick Togo/TAKA Michinoku/Sho Funaki, Michinoku Pro (8/18/1996) Liger steps into M-PRO to help deal with the KDX threat, and in some awesome continuity, Togo and Liger constantly go after each other. The under 15 minute length helps a lot as there's no wasted space. KDX perfectly adopts US tag formula here, on top of their amazing teamwork and heeling. The faces isolate TAKA and humiliate him for some revenge, and then things get hot for a moment before Hamada gets isolated. There's a huge dive train to go into the finishing run and Naniwa gets a little revenge by pinning TAKA with the Doctor Bomb. *** Volk Han vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, RINGS (8/24/1996) Han does it again, and pulls a great performance from the new kid out of the air like so many holds he's invented. Kohsaka stays on top of Han throughout, somewhat baffling Han early on, as Han's been able to coast for a while on his insane reputation, ON TOP of his prodigious skill. Kohsaka gets MADE in this match, as he gets a huge boon early on by slipping out of a fucking Volk Han Jujigatame, which is to say he gets out of a usual death hold in shoot-style by perhaps the greatest pure mat wrestler ever. Kohsaka goes on to prove himself as a master of escapes and counters, even mystifying Han by the end. He gets a crazy heel hold on, and it looks like Han's done, but he breaks Kohsaka's lock and cranks his arm back into a nasty position, and Kohsaka taps. ***1/2 Black Tiger II vs. Shinjiro Ohtani, NJPW (9/16/1996) This is a seven minute sprint, but it kicks a million kinds of ass, since it's 1996 Eddie and Ohtani going nuts. They dodge stuff early on and pay it off by the end, and it's really a classic example of how to work a 90s-early 2000s style TV spotfest like I've been watching in WWF 2000. Eddie survives the Springboard DDT, but then Ohtani hits a Bridging Tiger Suplex to pull off another big win. *** Volk Han vs. Kiyoshi Tamura, RINGS (9/25/1996) These two match up the best of any pairing in RINGS, I think, Tamura always brings out a kind of frantic scrambling in Han, and they continue to have these insane holds and counter holds pulled out of nowhere. Tamura tries to use his kicks and slaps to throw Han off of his game, and Han again has some trouble with one of the young kids he used to be able to handle with ease. Han can keep it on the mat, but off of breaks, Tamura keeps blasting him with kicks. Han FINALLY snaps with slaps and kicks and destroys Tamura. The kid barely gets up before 10, and immediately grabs a Sleeper, but in his fury, Han can negotiate a position where Tamura's legs are trapped, and Han then twists the arm out into a keylock to force a tap, since Tamura can't move his legs to get out. ***1/4 |
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| Big Tuna | Dec 1 2013, 12:40 AM Post #47 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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Dick Togo/TAKA Michinoku/Shiryu/MEN'S Teioh/Sho Funaki vs. Super Delfin/Gran Hamada/Gran Naniwa/Tiger Mask IV/Masato Yakushiji, Michinoku Pro (10/10/1996) This is a legendary spotfest, even if it's not the best MPro match. It's the one that broke MPro through to getting watched a lot more and brought KDX fame, so this is super important. It's still these five going nuts for 30 minutes, which rules. They build up slowly, as it starts with different pairings getting several minutes together. They establish roles too, which is very efficient of them. The pace picks up pairing by pairing, and the first half being as good as it was with it being just opening level back and forth stuff is a testament to how awesome all of these guys were. KDX starts to use teamwork to take over, and they have a ton of great control segment pieces. Finishing run is incredible. KDX does a TRIPLE TOPE SUICIDA, Hayashi makes with insane athletic feats, Yakushiji and TM IV do a Stereo Tope suicida putting the total to 5, Togo punching dudes in the face to break covers, etc. It goes just a little long before the end, but right after I had that thought, Togo puts Delfin away with DAT BACK SENTON. ****1/4 Dick Togo/Shiryu/MEN'S Teioh vs. The Great Sasuke/Gran Hamada/Masato Yakushiji, Michinoku Pro (10/19/1996) They can't top the 10 man on the next show, so they just go with a gritty version of their usual six man with some brawling and a lot more KDX cheating thrown in. They actually throw Sasuke out of the back door of the building and lock him out to put it at a 3 on 2. Sasuke comes back in through the front, but it's enough to time to isolate young Yakushiji. He has a ton of fire and gets out to Hamada. Hamada vs. Togo KILLS IT, and they build to Sasuke getting back in. He gets in, BUT SHIRYU IMMEDIATELY CUTS HIM OFF! Kaz Hayashi becoming the Roman Reigns of KDX in 1996 has been so much fun to watch over the last few tags. They finishing run is insane and Togo beats Yaku with DAT BACK SENTON. **** Yuki Ishikawa/Alexander Otsuka vs. Daisuke Ikeda/Takeshi Ono, BattlARTS (10/30/1996) This is epic yet again. Yuki and Ikeda HATE each other, and they don't waste time smacking the piss out of each other. Ikeda and Ono team up quick with double kicks, and Yuki responds to the cheap shot by breaking routine and going to the mounted face punching. Otsuka gets involved with sweet throws and headbutts, and Ono does his job well as Ikeda's little interfering buddy. It drags on a bit in the middle, but picks up HUGE at the end. Ikeda turns Otsuka's head into a puddle, but he keeps getting up before 10, and fires off a German Suplex before making the tag. Yuki vs. Ikeda kills it again, and Ishikawa tries the Sleeper from August. Ikeda throws elbows to get out, but Ishikawa catches one and puts on a Fujiwara Armbar to win. ***1/4 Shinya Hashimoto/Scott Norton vs. Masahiro Chono/Hiroyoshi Tenzan, NJPW (11/9/1996) THAT FIRST TEAM. ENTIRELY UNFAIR. This might be the most badass power team ever. I love the ChoTen dynamic a ton, as Chono will lay back and be lazy while Tenzan carries the team. Chono then bails him out with cheating, and only puts in effort once the match gets serious. Hash has enough of Chono's cheating against Norton, so he gets in and cheats back. Norton and Hash keep miscommunicating and Norton starts getting pissed. After about 10 minutes, NORTON WALKS OUT ON HASHIMOTO! HOLY SHIT! I've never seen a tag partner actually walk out in my Japan reviews. Hash fights extra hard, so we get fired up Hash x5. Hiro Saito comes out to watch, AND TRIPS HASHIMOTO UP FROM THE FLOOR! He interferes too, and it's a 2 on 1 as Chono distracts the ref, BUT SCOTT NORTON RUNS BACK OUT AND COMES THROUGH FOR HASH! NORTON CLEANS HOUSE, AND HASH HITS TENZAN WITH THE BRAINBUSTER TO WIN! *** Dick Togo/Shiryu/MEN'S Teioh vs. The Great Sasuke/Super Delfin/Gran Hamada, Michinoku Pro (11/12/1996) M-Pro delivers the goods yet again. Shiryu again stands out by taking the fight right to Sasuke. Hamada gets really stiff with KDX too, so Togo delivers that in kind. This was all back and forth, so it's not as great as the last two I reviewed, but it's still a world of fun. Finishing run kills it, and Sasuke gets something in on KDX finally, as he beats Shiryu with the Crucifix Powerbomb. *** Volk Han vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, RINGS (11/22/1996) Another wonderful short VH match. After last time, Han wastes NO time and immediately starts trying to dismantle the phenom. There's much more of a sense of struggle here, in a different way. Han usually seems so collected and counters with ease, so while there's always struggle over the holds, it never feels like he's actually struggling to win at all, but here, he's a lot more desperate. Han getting to show off actual selling of character stuff puts him on another plane entirely as an all-time great. He continues to invent stuff, and Kohsaka is still a master of escapes and counters. He escapes what beat him last time and baffles Han until like the genius he is, he traps Kohsaka's legs out of nowhere and cranks the arm into a Keylock for the tap. Han looks actually relieved to win, showing real emotion. *** Edited by Big Tuna, Dec 1 2013, 12:41 AM.
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| Big Tuna | Dec 1 2013, 09:43 PM Post #48 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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Shinya Hashimoto/Junji Hirara vs. Riki Choshu/Kensuke Sasaki, NJPW (12/1/1996) Choshu gets an IWGP Title shot at Hash on 1/4/97's Dome show as a result of his G1 win, so this is build. Everyone hits really hard, and being in there with Hash motivates Kensuke again. Hash is ALSO pissed off about the loss to Sasaki due to injury, and goes after him to prove a point. They isolate Hash's friend and get real vicious. Hash KILLS it on the hot tag, but gets double teamed. Choshu hits Hash with THREE Lariats, and Sasaki follows with the Northern Lights Bomb to AGAIN pin Hash. UGH. *** Masahiro Chono/Hiroyoshi Tenzan [c] vs. Kazuo Yamazaki/Takashi Iizuka [IWGP Tag Team Championship], NJPW (12/1/1996) This is solid. Chono and Tenzan heel it the fuck up to make people care about Iizuka, and Yamazaki is a lot of fun to watch as always. Yamazaki has some awesome stuff against Tenzan at the end, and the ChoTen dynamic continues to entertain me so much more than it probably should. Hiro Saito AGAIN runs interference, and it lets Tenzan hit Yamazaki with a Lariat for the win. *** Dick Togo/TAKA Michinoku/Shiryu/MEN'S Teioh/Sho Funaki vs. The Great Sasuke/Super Delfin/Gran Hamada/Gran Naniwa/Tiger Mask IV [Elimination Match], Michinoku Pro (12/9/1996) This isn't as great due to clipping and some of the eliminations not feeling quite right, but it was still KDX vs. M-Pro and kicked ass as a result. Funaki is out relatively early with some kind of a leg hold by Hamada that looked super tame. Then because elimination rules are weird in Japan, TM4 get thrown over the top to be eliminated. Shiryu is out next off of a Huracanrana from Hamada. TAKA eliminates Hamada with the Michinoku Driver. After that, they do a little more without hurried eliminations, and it picks up a lot. Sasuke gets isolated and comes back, but when he runs off for a dive, TOGO CATCHES HIM AND THROWS HIM OVER TO STEAL AN ELIMINATION! TOGO IS GOD. KDX then decimates eternal sidekick Naniwa for a while, and that's great. Delfin cleans house and hits TAKA with a Bridging Tiger Suplex. AND NANIWA COMES THROUGH FOR ONCE BY CUTTING OFF TOGO'S SAVE, AND TAKA IS ELIMINATED! Delfin goes on another rampage, BUT TEIOH GETS A LOW BLOW AND HITS A CHOKESLAM INTO A POWERBOMB TO ELIMINATE HIM! NANIWA IS ALONE. AND NANIWA SHOWS A TON OF FIRE! FUCK YEAH! HE ELIMINATES TEIOH WITH A DOCTOR BOMB EVEN! AND ONE TO TOGO, BUT TOGO KICKS OUT! King Togo shuts it down as soon as he can, and hits a Powerbomb and DAT BACK SENTON for the win. ***1/2 Ultimo Dragon [c] vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. [J-Crown], WAR (12/13/1996) ANOTHER killer juniors spotfest. Rey dies a bunch of time and makes Ultimo look actually great for once. They do big dives and lucha stuff, and holy sit, you know what this is. They basically take everything awesome from their WCW match but cut out any matwork or control stuff and just do the moves. Ultimo wins with the Slingshot Liger Bomb. *** Dick Togo/TAKA Michinoku/Shiryu/MEN'S Teioh/Sho Funaki vs. The Great Sasuke/Super Delfin/Gran Hamada/Gran Naniwa/Masato Yakushiji, Michinoku Pro (12/16/1996) This is better than 10/10/96, as they cut out the feeling out process and do a ton of hateful fighting and violent striking. Also, Sasuke is better than TM4 by a long shot, so everything in 10/10 is improved on here. The M-Pro faces are pissed off at KDX and KDX can't get any kind of offense or control for a while due to the aggression of the babyfaces. They take over eventually because TEAMWORK and run the table on everyone to tries to come in. Finishing run is total insanity YET AGAIN, and Yakushiji shines especially with several lunatic bumps and a beautiful Tope Suicida. Togo is about to finish with the Back Senton, but Sasuke gets on the apron. Teioh throws a chair at Sasuke to save, BUT HE MOVES AND IT HITS TOGO AND KNOCKS HIM TO THE FLOOR! YEAH! Sasuke dives onto Teioh and back in, Hamada hits Shiryu with a Huracanrana out of a pop up to finally beat KDX in a 10 man! ****1/4 Dick Togo/Shiryu/MEN'S Teioh/Sho Funaki vs. The Great Sasuke/Gran Hamada/Masato Yakushiji/Gran Naniwa, Michinoku Pro (12/20/1996) HEY GUESS WHAT? GREAT AGAIN. It can't compare to that last marvel of a match, so they do it differently and go back to basics. They brawl everywhere to start, and go to the classic KDX control formulas. Except they keep breaking down into these wonderfully heated fights on the floor, and they take out Funaki's knee! AND NOW KDX IS DOWN A MAN FOR ONCE! They isolate Sasuke well, but when it's finishing run time, they're spread way too thin trying to take out everyone, and Sasuke hits Shiryu with the Crucifix Powerbomb to win. ***1/4 Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto, RINGS (12/21/1996) Awesome shoot-style sprint. Tamura is the kind of energetic straight ahead guy that is a threat early on, but you can weather. Yamamoto is much more patient here, and after he weathers the storm of Tamura's wonderful slaps and kicks, he starts to dominate on the mat, even drawing blood from Tamura's cheek. Tamura is at a loss, but it turns out to be a ruse, as once Yamamoto seems to be comfortable and on the mat in the middle of the ring, Tamura breaks out a Jujigatame completely out of nowhere and Yamamoto taps. *** |
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| Big Tuna | Dec 5 2013, 11:52 PM Post #49 |
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Shinjiro Ohtani vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri [BJW], NJPW (1/4/1997) Tajiri starts to matter due to this performance as part of an otherwise useless NJPW vs. BJW series. He shows no respect and commences kicking the shit out of Ohtani immediately. He dominates him on the mat as well, and Ohtani really just lets Tajiri go wild before he comes back for the finishing run. They get into an awesome slapfight too and Tajiri his his epic Asai Moonsault. The crowd doesn't really get into the nearfalls and Tajiri doesn't get a lot, but he's still super young and Ohtani is being built big, so I get it. Ohtani wins with the Springboard Spinning Wheel Kick. **1/2 Shinya Hashimoto [c] vs. Riki Choshu [IWGP Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (1/4/1997) Choshu got this shot by winning the G1 Climax, and this has a definite BIG MATCH FEEL. They work a huge epic full of drama and shit, and it's wonderful. It's respectful strong man wrestling until Choshu slaps Hash, who then does not accept this treatment and murders his former mentor. Hash brutalizes him with face chops and insane kicks, and Choshu's old man selling is fantastic. The play on the parade of Lariats from their G1 match well and Hash eventually JUST SIDE-HAND CHOPS THE ARM! HASH GOES NUTS WITH KICKS TO THE ARM AND THE LARIAT IS DEAD! Riki pulls off a Superplex, which is a great visual when hit on Hash, but he's basically done now and knows it. He survives the DDT, and tries to fight for his life against the Brainbuster. But Hash gets him up, hits it, and it's over. **** Dick Togo/Shiryu/MEN'S Teioh vs. The Great Sasuke/Super Delfin/Gran Hamada, Michinoku Pro (1/14/1997) The usual fun stuff, if not great. This starts with some great Sasuke/Shiryu matwork though, before they move into a lot of the other usual fast-paced exchanges. After the amazing back and forth, it turns into an arena brawl with a lot of heat, and then KDX takes over in the ring for the killer control segments. Shiryu is given a lot of spotlight in the control bit, and shines. It's a shame he leaves in mid-1997. Finishing run is solid, but not great, and Togo beats Sasuke with the Back Senton. *** Jushin Liger/El Samurai vs. Shinjiro Ohtani/Koji Kanemoto, NJPW (1/20/1997) Liger/Ohtani and the winner vs. Kanemoto are both set for February, so this is all build. Ohtani and Kanemoto continue to be perfect young hotshot punks. They constantly go after Liger and use Samurai to set an example, and Samurai ALSO gets fired up at being treated like an afterthought. Liger gets even with these insolent little shits too. And then yeah, it's four awesome wrestlers, so the wrestling is great too. Samurai breaks out a sweet Tope Suicida, so I have to love him now. Ohtani blocks the Liger Bomb with a Huracanrana and hits another one to pin Liger, and he's now SUPER confident going into the match. ***1/4 Volk Han vs. Kiyoshi Tamura, RINGS (1/22/1997) Sometimes, great wrestlers end up having a match beyond their greatness where everything just clicks perfectly and it's the best possible meeting they can have. This is that. They keep it short, there's a lot of striking AND insane matwork stuff, and the story kills it. Tamura almost refuses to go on the mat initially and stays with kicks, but when he almost beats Han with a Jujigatame, he gets more confident and goes after it. Han barely dodges head kicks and when he can get holds in, it's basic shit instead of his usual insanity, and he looks totally shook. Tamura tries to go for the kill with kicks, but Han BARELY grabs one. He sinks down with it, and lays on top of the free leg with a Legbar. He alters it into a Heel Hook, and since Tamura can't move, he has to tap. Volk Han looks fucking amazed he won, and this is maybe my all-time favorite RINGS match now. **** Jushin Liger/El Samurai vs. Koji Kanemoto/Chris Jericho, NJPW (1/29/1997) Ohtani got his win on Liger going into his match, so now Kanemoto wants one. Jericho gets right into Kanemoto's heel vibe and provides the first real taste of how much of an asshole he'd become in WCW 1998. As usual, Liger is NOT about to be disrespected and feels insulted that he was even pinned nine days prior, and slaps the shit out of Kanemoto and Jericho relatively early on. Ohtani comes out to watch when the heels take over. They kind of nuke Jericho at the end and there's no finishing run, so this is only very good. Jericho kicks out of a Double Diving Headbutt, but Liger wins with the Super Fisherman's Buster right after. **3/4 Kensuke Sasaki/Satoshi Kojima vs. Scott Norton/Buff Bagwell, NJPW (1/29/1997) NWO JAPAN IS HERE! I'm not sure who's in it entirely, but I know Chono, Tenzan, and Hiro Saito all join relatively early, and Chono is with VND on the tour's poster, so they're probably all in now. Bagwell puts forth THE EFFORT~, and the other three are good. Sasaki gets pushed into a pure power fight against Norton, and Norton gets the best from him. He gets a lot out of Kojima too and makes him hit like a man. Kojima has a good hot tag, but goes down to a Powerbomb/Flying Clothesline combo. **3/4 Jushin Liger/El Samurai vs. Shinjiro Ohtani/Koji Kanemoto, NJPW (2/8/1997) This is JIP and only eight minutes, so it's not great, but it's really good stuff to again build Liger/Ohtani up big time. Ohtani and Liger keep throwing rocks at the throne, and Ohtani taunts Liger like he's actually on his level now after that one lucky pin. He keeps him out long enough at the end though, and neutralizes Liger so Koji can get his own big win with the Tiger Suplex on Samurai! **3/4 Jushin Liger [c] vs. Shinjiro Ohtani [J-Crown Championship], NJPW (2/9/1997) To cement that he is currently the undisputed King of everything, Liger has the other eight belts carried in by scantily clad women while he wears only the IWGP Jr. belt. This is an all-time classic, and one of the most perfect matches ever based around the young guy is ALMOST ready to be The Man, but isn't there just yet for a small little reason. At the same time, it gives off the idea that he's maybe one or two matches away from ending it, so The Man comes out a little fearful by the end. Ohtani dominates early on, and is super confident about this match. Before, he'd always been tentative, but now that he knows he can pin Liger, he doesn't need to be prompted to pick up the pace at all and starts assaulting Liger with strikes in the corner early on. Liger tries to cut him off by working the legs, but Ohtani isn't troubled, and he goes after the arm. Specifically, the hand, since he got KO'd by the Shotei last year. Liger sells well going into the finishing run, and Ohtani again puts up SO much more of a fight than he did in 1996. He survives a Shotei early in the fun, the Liger Bomb, Brainbusters, and more importantly, he actually cuts off Liger's big comeback and gets his own shit going for nearfalls. Liger comes back and Ohtani responds to shoteis by laughing and shaking his head. He dares Liger to do more of them since he thinks Liger is out of gas, BUT LIGER RUNS WITH THE BIGGEST ONE EVER AND OHTANI GETS KNOCKED OUT FOR HIS HUBRIS. AMAZING. Liger covers holding his arm to win. Ohtani has it won, but his hubris costs him the match. **** Shinya Hashimoto [c] vs. Kazuo Yamazaki [IWGP Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (2/16/1997) Hash delivers AGAIN. These two pair up SO well and everything just flies by when they grapple. It's really rough, but they get it across so easily that these two do not like each other at all and they do things just to spite each other early on. They both try to go after legs and fail, and to rub it in, they kick the shit out of each other. Yamazaki even breaks out suplexes as kind of a "fuck you" in there. He goes after the RIGHT arm in a totally different strategy and it leaves Hash at a loss for much of the match. Yamazaki is a total bad ass, but Hashimoto is THE baddest motherfucker of a generation and his response is very simple. He just punches Yamazaki directly in the face. He goes wild with slaps and sells his arm before kicking Yamazaki's head off and hitting the Brainbuster to win. Perfect. ***3/4 Yuki Ishikawa vs. Alexander Otsuka, BattlARTS (2/28/1997) They keep this short, and pack a lot in as kind of a BA primer. Otsuka throws out a Saito Suplex early on causing Yuki to slow it down. They go to the mat and it's wonderful. Otsuka grabs a lot of great holds, and Yuki continues to throw some AMAZING punches and body shots to open up hold opportunities. Otsuka went after the legs and threw blows back to open up Ishikawa for holds too, and even had a great Giant Swing before a legbar. Yuki is almost knocked out, but responds with the nastiest front arm-lock Suplex of all time, basically turning it into a head drop. He gets the mount and punches Otsuka in the face like 5 times and puts on a Rear Naked Choke, also using Otsuka's own arm to choke him out to win. ***1/4 Dick Togo vs. Masato Yakushiji, Michinoku Pro (3/1/1997) Perfect underdog match, although it doesn't quite live up to their incredible pairings in the tags over the last six months. Togo is the king of all the assholes in KDX and Yakushiji is one of those perfect 90s underdogs like Hase and Kikuchi. Togo takes it to the mat in a rarity for the KDX run, and still rules it as he rubs the kid's face in the mat basically. And then literally. The boy has to take to the air to stay alive then, and the finishing run is pretty great. Togo hits a Liger Bomb, Powerbomb, and the Back Senton for the win. ***1/4 Super Delfin vs. Shiryu, Michinoku Pro (3/1/1997) Shiryu is my second favorite KDX guy, but he's basically at the bottom of the totem pole in terms of experience besides Funaki, and has had basically no big singles matches against top guys before this, so it's a different dynamic than usual. Delfin takes it right to the kid and returns a lot of KDX's bullshit with the mask unlacing and cheating. Hayashi does take over, and uncorks a lot of the awesome offense he'd become known for later on. This being M-PRO, there's a lot of false starts to control segments in the first half before they go into more stuff and it becomes kind of frustrating and a little time wasting since it leads to the back and forth part going on longer than the actual meat of the match. Due to Delfin's aggression, the crowd starts to turn Shiryu face, and he works it appropriately. They fuck up a lot at the finish though, and Shiryu just sort of gets a La Magistral for the win. God, that was disappointing. **1/2 |
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| Big Tuna | Dec 6 2013, 03:31 PM Post #50 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto, RINGS (4/4/1997) This is not really my speed. It's a thirty minute shoot-style draw, which is in the same realm as Aries/Danielson for 75 minutes or really any match over 60. It's impressive that they did it, but it feels like something done JUST for the sake of doing it. It's super hard to make this style work for 30, and they managed to do it, but barely. They did a great job of gradually bringing the pace up and introducing some planning in with trying to bait each other into stuff in the final third though, and while I won't watch it again or recommend anyone else do it, it was great. *** Shinya Hashimoto [c] vs. Naoya Ogawa [IWGP Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (5/3/1997) This is around when Inoki began to lose his god damned mind. Ogawa debuted in April against Hash in the Tokyo Dome main event AND WON IN NINE MINUTES. Nobody gives a shit about him, but it shows how great Hash is, as he gets a decent showing in another ten-ish minute match against a Judo guy who's had only one other match. It's mostly matwork until Hash kicks this faggot into oblivion and the ref stops it. HASH IS GOD. **1/4 Koji Kanemoto vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa, NJPW (5/20/1997) This was pretty great. Takaiwa and Kanemoto are both on the same team of young junior punks, so they're very similar. Takaiwa is the unproven one though, so he's a ton more aggressive. Kanemoto doesn't take his little buddy all that seriously, but Takaiwa gradually proves himself on the mat in the first half. Kanemoto then commences the shit-kicking, but Takaiwa stays in it and shows a great power game. AND HITS A SWEET DEATH VALLEY DRIVER. TAKAIWA, BREAKING THE FUCK OUT. HE HITS A FUCKING QUADRUPLE POWERBOMB, BECAUSE JERICHO IS A SISSY, AND POWERS HIM UP OFF THE FOURTH AND INTO A SECOND DEATH VALLEY DRIVER TO WIN! FUCK YEAH UPSET! ***1/2 Shinjiro Ohtani vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri, NJPW (5/20/1997) YEAH REMATCH. Ohtani takes Tajiri more seriously now and brings his A game, so this is actually great. The crowd is a lot hotter since this is in Koreukan Hall and not the Dome. Tajiri gets to kick out of a lot more here, and Ohtani goes for the win actively instead of just ending it when he got bored like at the Dome. They get into another beautiful slapfight, AND TAJIRI GETS A DRAGON SUPLEX FOR ANOTHER UPSET! *** Koji Kanemoto vs. Gran Naniwa, NJPW (5/25/1997) This is JIP to the ending 7 or 8 minutes, but it's fun. Kanemoto punishes the comedy sidekick from M-PRO and even tears his mask to expose his face and throw him off. It fires up Naniwa BIG TIME, but his fire causes him to make mistakes and run into stuff, and Kanemoto blocks a Frankensteiner into a Super Liger Bomb. He hits his usual Tiger Suplex, but instead of the pin, he puts on a Jujigatame just to force Naniwa's total humiliation with a tap. *** Koji Kanemoto vs. El Samurai [BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS 1997 FINALS], NJPW (6/5/1997) ANOTHER FAMOUS ONE! This isn't quite as good as the Liger/Ohtani classic from February, but it has a lot in common. They have lots of matwork and Kanemoto carries himself like this match is already won. Samurai slaps the shit out of him a lot, so Kanemoto targets the leg to take him out. He's a lot more persistent with his work than his buddy Ohtani, and keeps on the leg. They stay super focused for like 85% of this, and Kanemoto even tears up Samurai's mask when he comes back, trying to force him to lose his cool like Naniwa did. He does lose his cool, but not in the way Kanemoto wanted. They went NUTS in the final moments and sold pretty much none of the prior stuff, but they did a ton of totally insane stuff that I loved. It basically evens out. Kanemoto about kills Samurai with the famous Super Reverse Rana, and then a few minutes later, Samurai uncorks a Super Reverse DDT, a Reverse Suplex, and then a Lifting Reverse DDT to win it. ***1/2 Jushin Liger/El Samurai vs. Shinjiro Ohtani/Yoshihiro Tajiri, BJW (6/7/1997) YEAH WHAT'S UP LIGER/TAJIRI?! DIDN'T THINK THEY EVER PAIRED UP. Ohtani's usual hatred of the old guard is there, mixed in with Tajiri's amazing fire. Ohtani influences his new pal to get pretty vicious too, so that's amazing. The old guys try to make Tajiri pay for it, but he fires back and has more striking firepower with his kicks than Ohtani does. Plus, he's on home turf, so he's not willing to be the bitch. Liger got isolated with some fun shit, and el Samurai continues his weird relevant streak in 1997 with an actual hot tag. He beats Tajiri with the Elevated Reverse DDT. ![]() *** |
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| Big Tuna | Dec 7 2013, 01:56 AM Post #51 |
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Jushin Liger [c] vs. El Samurai [J-Crown Championship], NJPW (7/6/1997) This is JIP, but really heated. Sammy throws the world at his friend the Ace and Liger doesn't really seem worried at all, given how he's always been able to dispatch El Samurai with ease. He doesn't bother working limbs or anything, and is so confident that he lets Sammy shine before trying basic shit to put it away. It doesn't work, so he hesitantly starts to drop bombs. AND SAMURAI SURVIVES, SO LIGER FINALLY GETS PISSED. SAMURAI THEN TAKES ADVANTAGE OF LIGER'S OPENINGS! HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME SUDDENLY! Samurai goes for everything at his first shot, and hits a Super Reverse DDT! Liger is OUT and basically dead weight. He kicks out, but can't be lifted up for a bit. Sammy muscles him up to hit the Elevated Reverse DDT AND SAMMY ACTUALLY WINS THE J-CROWN HOLY SHIT WHAT?! ***1/4 El Samurai vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa, NJPW (8/3/1997) Unfortunately, it's non-title. This is JIP and only six or seven minutes, so it's not great, but I enjoyed it a lot. Takaiwa continues to rule and bring a lot of big power offense to the juniors division, and he stands out huge as a result. He's dropping Lariats and Powerbombs and all kinds of throwing head drop offense, and I love him again, not even remembering how bad he becomes in the 2000s. He survives the Super Reverse DDT, BUT THEN BLOCKS ANOTHER INTO A SUPER DVD. TRIPLE POWERBOMB AND THEN A DEATH VALLEY BOMB. TAKAIWA IS A FUCKING MAN NOW. YEAH. *** Shinya Hashimoto vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [G1 CLIMAX - SEMI-FINALS], NJPW (8/3/1997) UGH ALSO JIP. Only the last 8 minutes, but it is awesome stuff. Also, it's only a 13-14 minute match, so this is over half. Tenzan spits at Hash, so Hash wakes up and DESTROYS his chest with kicks and throws some of those great slaps too. Tenzan takes a few NASTY DDT bumps, and he's actually pretty great here. His NWO Japan bros Chono and Hiro Saito help him on the floor with distractions, and it saves his ass. Tenzan hits like 5 or 6 Diving Headbutts on Hash, covering after each, and on the sixth, Hash BARELY misses the kick out! TENZAN WINS SOMEHOW! Hash is irate after the match and NWO Japan basically drags Tenzan out after he destroyed himself for that win. ***1/4 Kensuke Sasaki vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [1997 G1 CLIMAX - FINALS], NJPW (8/3/1997) BIG FIGHT FEEL. The atmosphere here elevates a still-great 8 minute sprint into kind of a mini classic. Tenzan has some good music too, but Kensuke's TAKE THE DREAM~ is only rivaled by Hash, Chono, and Mutoh's music for epic vibes. Which makes this fitting, as it's his last step before ascending to the throne. Dudes throw everything out, hit each other SUPER hard, and do it in front of a hot crowd while showing a ton of fire and passion. I'll take it. The rest of NWO Japan (Mutoh, Bagwell, Norton) come out to watch, but they don't get to interfere. Tenzan tries his headbutt gambit, but he misses here, and Sasaki takes over. He hits the Northern Lights Bomb, BUT TENZAN KICKS OUT AT 1 BECAUSE FUCK YOU. Sasaki then hits a Lariat and another NLB to win. ![]() *** El Samurai [c] vs. Shinjiro Ohtani [J-Crown Championship], NJPW (8/10/1997) EPIC! Well, in theory, since we get a little over half of this due to it being JIP, but it feels epic. Ohtani is fed up and stays incredibly aggressive. Samurai has to try and get aggressive too and has big dives and offense, but Ohtani is just NOT going to lose again. Samurai breaks out the big killer Super Reverse DDT, but Ohtani rolls out! Fate is on his side for once here, and he flips out of a Reverse DDT try back in. AND HE HITS THE SPRINGBOARD SPINNING WHEEL KICK! AND FOLLOWS UP WITH THE BENOIT KI -- WITH THE BENOIT DEFEATER, THE SPRINGBOARD FLYING DDT! FUCK YEAH. DRAGON SUPLEX, AND OHTANI FINALLY WINS THE BELTS. *** Shinya Hashimoto [c] vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan [IWGP Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (8/10/1997) Tenzan gets the shot after his win a week prior. This is the last Hashimoto title defense of the IWGP Title ever, as on 8/31, he loses it to Kensuke Sasaki in a match that is a ghost to the internet but probably ruled. This is worked a lot slower than their G1 sprint due to the title being on the line, which makes sense. The NWO Japan comes out to help when Hash is on the floor, BUT TENZAN WAVES THEM OFF! YEAH SORTA! They have a big epic finishing run after that, and Hash's big dramatic cut off of a Lariat try with a punch to the stomach was so simple, so brutal, and just so fucking good. Tenzan is doomed, but becomes a man by spitting and shit talking Hash in the face of defeat, and thusly earns my love. Hash dismantles his spinal cord with a Brainbuster from hell to retain. Hash's title matches are done with, and I'm depressed.***1/2 |
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| Big Tuna | Dec 7 2013, 06:43 PM Post #52 |
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Volk Han vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto, RINGS (8/13/1997) Yamamoto was the last dude to beat Han in RINGS, and that was in fucking 1995 and regarded as a big fluke. Still, it's a blemish on Han's record, and he is more aggressive than usual in trying to expunge that shit. Yamamoto has Han scouted better than most though, and keeps getting out of Han's trick where he traps a leg. Han does stuff, but has trouble with Yamamoto's kicks. He survives, but right off a break, Yamamoto kills him with a roundhouse. Han goes down and he's OUT, SO THE REF CALLS IT AND YAMAMOTO SNAPS HAN'S STREAK AGAIN. ***1/4 Yuki Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda, BattlARTS (9/1/1997) This is a disgusting war. Yuki has a bad leg and sells all match, and Ikeda tries to go after it. They had a great vibe from the get-go where it comes off as this knock down drag out fight. Ishikawa can usually go with Ikeda on the mat and win, but his knee hinders him, so he wants a slugfest. Ikeda weathers it and goes for the knee with holds. Ishikawa weathers that and goes for strikes again, BUT ISHIKAWA KICKS HIS KNEE OUT TO DISTRACT HIM FROM THAT! IKEDA HITS ONE OF THE MOST VIOLENT LARIATS EVER, PRACTUALLY INVENTING A LARIAT PUNCH. He then chokes Ishikawa out with a Rear Naked Choke, and the ref stops it. **** Jushin Liger/El Samurai vs. Shinjiro Ohtani/Koji Kanemoto, NJPW (9/13/1997) They are building to Liger/Ohtani III in October, now that Ohtani has the belts. Ohtani and Kanemoto continue to get cockier now that they actually have the J-Crown with their camp. The matwork is good, especially from Kanemoto and Liger, but it picks up a lot when they take over and isolate Liger. Finishing run isn't amazing, but it's enough to get this over the three mark. It comes down to Liger and Kanemoto, and Liger basically shows that he's still the King, but Ohtani gets him from behind with the Springboard Missile Dropkick! Kanemoto follows up on Ohtani's work with a Moonsault for the upset. *** Volk Han vs. Kiyoshi Tamura, RINGS (9/16/1997) Han has been beaten now, so it seems like everyone has a shot. EXCEPT THAT HAN IS PISSED AND IMMEDIATELY HUMILIATES TAMURA BY MAKING HIM GO TO THE ROPES TO BLOCK A JUJIGATAME. Han's been the king for so long that as soon as there's any doubt as to his position, he becomes insane and mauls people. Tamura goes to the kicks since it worked for Yamamoto, but Han also tries it now. AND HAN INVENTS A KEYLOCK SNAP SUPLEX. OH MY GOD. He keeps it up, but his aggression allows Yamamoto a takedown into a Jujigatame, AND HAN TAPS OUT. This is the last Volk Han match I have in the ditch archive, so if this is the end, he did a killer job making Tamura and Yamamoto with his last two matches. ***1/4 |
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| Big Tuna | Dec 9 2013, 08:02 PM Post #53 |
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Jushin Liger/El Samurai/Kendo Kashin vs. Shinjiro Ohtani/Koji Kanemoto/Tatsuhito Takaiwa, NJPW (10/10/1997) This is a decent lead-in tag to Liger/Ohtani III. Liger is out to prove that he's still the king, and Ohtani is increasingly confident as he has the belts. Kashin is the low man for once instead of Kanemoto, so the rookie take a ton of glee in getting to pull the veteran card while smacking and beating the shit out of him. Takaiwa continues to become one of my dudes with his use of strong style power offense in the juniors' realm. Kashin does arm stuff, but whatever, he loses to a German Suplex from Ohtani. **1/2 Dick Togo/MEN'S Teioh/Sho Funaki vs. Super Delfin/Masato Yakushiji/Naohiro Hoshikawa, Michinoku Pro (10/10/1997) Hoshikawa is a step down from a Sasuke, Hamada, or Naniwa, but he can hold his own well enough. It's the same with Funaki, but with Kaz Hayashi now in WCW, and TAKA probably busy, they had to throw Funaki in. This is pretty disappointing, and is a little too long for some reason, since the middle really drags due to KDX not getting their usual control stuff. Togo vs. Delfin is wonderful though. The finish is really abrupt too, as Delfin puts on the Delfin Clutch pin for the win, which has never beaten anyone so far. **3/4 Shinjiro Ohtani vs. El Samurai, NJPW (10/16/1997) Both the respective junior stables are at ringside. This is only about seven minutes and JIP, but it's very enjoyable since it's these two doing a bunch of stuff. What you get is basically an awesome Attitude Era length TV match with a lot of spots and a hot crowd. Samurai hits a huge Lariat and tries to immediately end it with the Super Reverse DDT. Ohtani fights it and knocks him off, before he hits the Springboard Spinning Wheel Kick to win. *** Shinjiro Ohtani vs. Jushin Liger, NJPW (10/19/1997) This was non-title and only 7 minutes as it's joined in progress too. 1997 NJPW is fucking up HUGE, and this can't compare to the two of their matches before this at all. Ohtani is in control for the majority until Liger does his thing. Ohtani is helpless against the onslaught, but when Liger tries the Super Brainbuster too early, Ohtani counters into a Crossbody! He immediately fires off the Dragon Suplex after that and then the Springboard Wheel Kick for the win. That was anticlimactic. *** |
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| Big Tuna | Dec 11 2013, 12:36 AM Post #54 |
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The Great Sasuke/Super Delfin vs. MEN'S Teioh/Sho Funaki, Michinoku Pro (11/2/1997) This was really good, but flawed. They never seem to commit to the story of Sasuke's fucked up knee, and it kind of hurts what this could be. They have awesome matwork to starts, and Delfin does some weirdly great BattlARTS imitation stuff to abuse Funaki. Teioh is an awesome old-school heel too and the work on Sasuke's knee rules. Then Delfin randomly gets in for bursts before Sasuke gets pulled back in. They do more stuff, and Funaki makes Sasuke tap to a sweet Legbar. This felt like set up to a great match. **3/4 Masahiro Chono/Keiji Mutoh vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Tatsumi Fujinami, NJPW (11/2/1997) Chono and Mutoh have won the tag titles for NWO Japan by now, but this is non-title. They have NWO Japan of Norton, Tenzan, and Hiro Saito with them. NWO Japan is all style and relatively little substance, but they have so much fucking style and Chono is the coolest dude ever. Tenryu did the best he could, but this is merely a good match instead of a great one. The legends punish NWO Japan, but with the aid of lots of interference and cheating, it's just not possible to win. Chono makes Fujinami tap out to the STF, which is pretty huge. **1/2 |
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| Big Tuna | Dec 11 2013, 10:47 PM Post #55 |
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I'm the worst and lost the first two reviewed matches. Daisuke Ikeda vs. Alexander Otsuka, BattlARTS (11/5/1997) - **** The Great Sasuke/Super Delfin vs. MEN'S Teioh/Sho Funaki, Michinoku Pro (11/9/1997) - ***1/4 El Samurai vs. Tatsuhiko Takaiwa, NJPW (11/30/1997) This is JIP and lasts about 5 minutes, so it's hardly great, but was enjoyable for what it was. They throw a million big moves at each other in this finishing run. Takaiwa gets over big by surviving the Super Reverse DDT, even if it's by putting his foot on the ropes. He is now brazen enough to pull up Samurai after the Triple Powerbombs and DVD, but he cuts off a comeback with a Lariat, and then hits a Super DVD for the win. Kudos to NJPW for how they've totally committed to making Takaiwa in 1997, as he's done in about a year what took Ohtani and Kanemoto 2-3. **1/2 Shinjiro Ohtani/Koji Kanemoto vs. Jushin Liger/Kendo Kashin, NJPW (11/30/1997) ALSO JIP. GOD DAMNIT, NEW JAPAN. Kanemoto starts to go after Liger too to make his name and they get into some fun slapfests. Ohtani/Kashin is not nearly as interesting a match up. This is the same kind of layout as a 2000-1 Hardys TV match. Initial offensive flurry until a highspot, then a short isolation and a big finishing few minutes. Except these guys don't get how to make that work nearly as well, which is strange to say. Kashin is not a great hot tag by any means, but to build him up some, he makes Kanemoto tap to a shitty Cross Armbreaker. **3/4 Shinjiro Ohtani/Koji Kanemoto/Tatsuhiko Takaiwa vs. Jushin Liger/El Samurai/Kendo Kashin, NJPW (12/5/1997) This is also JIP and only eight minutes, but this is the best of the post so far. It helps that Kashin is being the one horribly abused, as it means nobody has to watch him be a hot tag at the end when Liger and Samurai are a million times better. The younger team also takes glee in destroying Liger's boy again. Kanemoto gets trapped at the end though, as Samurai wipes out Takaiwa with a dive, and Ohtani gets hung up in the corner. Super Brainbuster puts Koji down. *** Shinya Hashimoto/Manabu Nakanishi vs. Kensuke Sasaki/Kazuo Yamazaki [SUPER GRADE TAG LEAGUE - SEMI-FINALS], NJPW (12/8/1997) Hash has a new promising young guy on his side, and wants revenge on KENSKEE. Yamazaki vs. Hash also can't not deliver. They go after Sasaki's knee, and Nakanishi is a huge powerhouse. Yamazaki targets Hash's arm, and Nakanishi has to be saved a lot. Hash is still the king though, and he powers through almost entirely on his own, and puts Yamazaki in a flash Fujiwara Armbar for the win. *** Masahiro Chono/Keiji Mutoh vs. Shinya Hashimoto/Manabu Nakanishi [1997 SUPER GRADE TAG LEAGUE - FINALS], NJPW (12/8/1997) NWO Japan is in full force on the floor. NWO Japan immediately targets Nakanishi's knee, which according to the internet, makes sense as they won in the round-robin part of the tournament with a Figure Four by Mutoh on the kid. Their knee work is good, and Mutoh seems revitalized by getting to be a lazy asshole as a heel. Call it the Shawn Michaels theory, where someone comes off WAY better as a heel as they can stop pretending to be a good human being. Anyways, the knee. Hash knows the game plan and cuts it off and gets in quick to weaken them some. Nakanishi sells his leg fairly well. Hash kills it on the hot tag, BUT CHONO CLIPS HIS KNEE FROM BEHIND. NO. He can't get up fast enough, and Mutoh puts on the Figure Four. Hash is in for like a minute, and Chono cuts off his idiot rookie partner with the STF, and Hash has to tap after a long ass time. ![]() *** The Great Sasuke/Super Delfin vs. Dick Togo/MEN'S Teioh, Michinoku Pro (12/18/1997) This is a step up from the November tags, as while Funaki is good, Togo is the best. This starts as a brawl, and Sasuke's leg is immediately targeted once it gets back inside. Togo gets especially brutal on the knee, but also breaking out lots of cool offense while doing it, because he's the boss. He inspires Teioh too, who hits a Shin Breaker off the top. Sasuke is selling amazingly, and Delfin has a solid hot tag, but can't handle the numbers. Togo destroys him with a Tope Suicida, and the referee has to stop the match when Sasuke can't stand and won't give up. **** |
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| Big Tuna | Dec 12 2013, 05:47 PM Post #56 |
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Shinjiro Ohtani [c] vs. Ultimo Dragon [IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (1/4/1998) Since the last taped title defense, the J-Crown was dissolved. This is JIP on Ditch's end, but we get like 11 out of 17 minutes, so I'm assuming he just cut out the typical matwork run. Ultimo breaks out some of his cool lucha holds for the control section on Ohtani, so this stands out as a result. He hits a sweet Moonsault from inside the ring on the middle buckle to the floor, probably inspiring future Springboard Triangle dives everywhere. Ohtani has Ultimo scouted, so he breaks out crazy lucha pins for nearfalls instead. Ohtani finally rolls through one of them into the Dragon Suplex, and hits another to win. *** Masahiro Chono vs. Shiro Koshinaka, NJPW (1/4/1998) This is Koshinaka's yearly performance where he reminds you that he can be actually really good, and that he's just embarrassingly lazy most of the time. YAKUZA KICK VS. ASS ATTACK. Koshinaka avoids all of Chono's cheating and deception too and pushes him pretty far. This isn't deep or anything, it's just two good wrestlers throwing bombs in front of a great crowd. Chono targets the neck at the end with the Rude Awakening and a Piledriver, and cuts off his comeback in mid-run with a Yakuza Kick to win. *** MEN'S Teioh [c] vs. Sho Funaki [UWF Welterweight Championship], Michinoku Pro (1/14/1998) This is a weirdly good technical match. Everything is really tight and hard fought and the pace gradually picks up in an organic fashion, like a classic NWA Title match or something. Which makes sense, given that Teioh's idol is Terry Funk, so he's bound to have a love for that kind of thing. Teioh goes after the knee of Funaki with a lot of the same stuff on Sasuke, but Funaki's selling isn't as good. It's not bad, but Sasuke's selling in the December tag was the best. Funaki goes after the arm to try and even it up. Teioh wins with a Tornado Clutch variant. *** The Great Sasuke/Gran Hamada/Tiger Mask IV vs. Dick Togo/Sho Funaki/Super Boy, Michinoku Pro (1/16/1998) Super Boy is this fat agile guy who makes Togo look svelte. He adapts well enough and uses his weight for some cool visuals when he's flying around. TM4 doesn't embarrass himself at all, Hamada and Funaki stay out of the way mostly, and Togo and Sasuke lead everyone to a great match as usual. Sasuke's bad knee got attacked AGAIN at the end and it stops him from doing the Sasuke Special. Togo hits a Flipping Senton to Sasuke's knee across the bottom rope, and the referee stops it. *** Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Minoru Tanaka, BattlARTS (1/20/1998) Tajiri is brought to BA, but he still just works a Tajiri match. Weirdly, pins count here, so it's not a full on BA rules deal, but it's Tajiri against a talented kicky guy, so it's gonna rule. Tanaka becomes a name junior guy in the 2000s, so it's cool to see the flashes of potential again. Tajiri gives him his first great match. Tajiri dominates, but then lets Minoru shine in the last half, and he has some solid stuff for a rookie. Minoru gets a Huracanrana into a Jujigatame for the upset. *** Yuki Ishikawa vs. Alexander Otsuka, BattlARTS (1/20/1998) And this is more your classic BA style. It's face/face so it doesn't have the frenzied roughness of Ikeda vs. either of them, but they build up to it more. The first half of this is all on the mat, and it's really good. Lots of cool counters and hold trading, etc. But then it picks up a ton in the second half when they get more aggressive. Yuki does more pro-style stuff to take over, but Otsuka begins to dump him with suplexes like he did to Ikeda. Yuki blocks a German and falls back into a nasty Key Lock for the tap. ***1/4 |
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| Big Tuna | Dec 12 2013, 07:25 PM Post #57 |
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Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Minoru Tanaka, BJW (2/3/1998) The rematch, now on Tajiri's turf. He goes right after him with arm work, but Tajiri weathers it this time and cuts him off with a gross kick, immediately making this better than the first time. He controls with his stretching but still sells the arm well in transition. Minoru keeps going after the arm , but starts adapting to normal pro wrestling with more suplexes to soften Tajiri up and make the arms easier to go after. Tajiri debuts the Tarantula here too, bending Tanaka halfway over the top rope in the nastiest version ever. Tajiri gets a German and rolls into a Dragon Suplex to win. *** Shinjiro Ohtani/Koji Kanemoto/Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Jushin Liger/El Samurai/Kendo Kashin, NJPW (2/4/1998) JIP. 7 minutes. You know the drill. Takaiwa uses his power to isolate Samurai, and Ohtani is a massive asshole when he keeps cutting off the tag and wagging his finger at Liger who wants in. He then uses a Liger Bomb to further enrage him. Kanemoto vs. Liger also gets some great build as it breaks down. Kanemoto survives the Liger Bomb and Brainbuster, but then Kashin and Samurai hold up up and steady for a nasty Shotei, and Liger takes it. *** Kensuke Sasaki [c] vs. Osamu Nishimua [IWGP Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (2/7/1998) Nishimura isn't much, but I'd like to review all the big title stuff if I can find it. Nishimura is a career midcarder and Fujinami apprentice, so he's mostly matwork. They do a solid wrestler vs. power guy story, but didn't need 22 minutes to do it, and couldn't fill that time well. Sasaki has more in the tank than Nishimura does for the finishing run, and Nishimura doesn't have a lot in terms of bombs, so he can only try and hang on while Sasaki murders him. He eventually goes down to a Lariat. **1/2 Shinjiro Ohtani [c] vs. Jushin Liger [IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (2/7/1998) This is JIP too, which is SO upsetting. They still have 11 minutes, but it's not on the same level as the 1996 and 1997 matches because it's the last 11 minutes of a 23 minute match. Ohtani has the advantage for once, having held the belt for six months and finally beat Liger in 1997, so Liger's the one throwing everything out. Ohtani survives it and continues to act like he's the king now. He goes after the arm and Liger sells it very very well. But Liger kicks out of what finished him in October, so Ohtani loses his cool again. He gets back quicker, BUT LIGER HITS A FLASH SHOTEI. AND ANOTHER AND ONE TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD NOW. IMMEDIATE SUPER BRAINBUSTER, AND LIGER REGAINS THE BELT! *** Jushin Liger vs. Koji Kanemoto, NJPW (2/8/1997) Only 7 minutes. We get the finishing run though, so it's all kind of really cool stuff as Kanemoto continues to be a disrespectful little shithead. He slaps Liger around and dominates, but like Ohtani in matches past, his hubris is his undoing. He takes too long celebrating BEFORE a top rope move, and Liger pulls him down with a Superbomb on the back of his neck. He hits a Shotei and Northern Shotei, and then runs off for a third and final one (to which Koji just stands with his arms out and yelling in defiance) for the win.*** Keiji Mutoh vs. Kazuo Yamazaki, NJPW (2/15/1998) This is part of an NWO Japan vs. NJPW series, and is one of the only two close to complete matches from it that got released, along with the other one I'm reviewing. It's eight minutes and not much of note. Mutoh uses a chair and NWO Japan dudes on the floor interfere. Curt Hennig is on the floor for this, as is NWO Sting, who apparently still existed in 1998. Yamazaki targets the knee, but messes his own up, and Mutoh goes to town. He hits a Dragon Screw to Yamazaki off the second rope and puts on the Figure Four to win. **1/4 Kensuke Sasaki vs. Scott Norton, NJPW (2/15/1998) This is the second! AND IT RULED. Just 10 minutes of big muscled up guys being stiff as shit with chops and Lariats and being super aggressive in front of a hot crowd. Sasaki hurts his arm, but keeps throwing the Lariats because that's his big thing. NWO distracts him so Norton can survive, and he cuts off the flurry with a Lariat of his own, before hitting a Powerbomb for a semi-clean win over the champ. *** |
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| Big Tuna | Dec 15 2013, 06:42 PM Post #58 |
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Keiji Mutoh/Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Tatsumi Fujinami/Kazuo Yamazaki, NJPW (3/14/1998) This continues the weird streak of me enjoying NWO Japan Mutoh. He gives a shit and wrestles with some degree of intelligence (although still not on Chono's level, let alone Hash's). He gets led along by Yamazaki on the mat, and Fujinami forces him to get fired up. Tenzan brings a lot to the table yet again too. NWO Japan controls Yamazaki well, and Fujinami is alright on his hot tag, but the age is starting to show. Mutoh goes after his knee with the Figure Four stuff, but Fujinami fights back with the same. He puts Mutoh in the Figure Four, and Yamazaki places himself in his Jujigatame on Tenzan between Mutoh and the ropes, so he has to tap. **1/2 Mike Awesome vs. Hayabusa, FMW (3/17/1998) There isn't a ton of non-deathmatch 90s FMW online, but this is, and it's awesome. It has the terrible English commentary unfortunately, and just a ton of highspots. Awesome flies around and throws Hayabusa around. They do big stuff that you've seen in a million Awesome matches before, but it's still really fun to see almost every time. They both some stuff in the finishing run because it's Hayabusa. He hits a Bridging Dragon Suplex with a shitty bridge to win. *** Jushin Liger [c] vs. Kendo Kashin [IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (4/4/1998) TOKYO DOME INOKI RETIREMENT SHOW! This is JIP as usual by now, but we get 10 minutes as Liger drags Kashin to his best singles match yet. Kashin always goes after the arm for his shoot-style faggotry. He throws some good European Uppercuts too. I hate giving Dragon Soldier B credit for anything. Liger sells JUST well enough to put over Kashin while still murdering his head. Super Brainbuster ends it. *** Masahiro Chono/Keiji Mutoh [c] vs. Shinya Hashimoto/Osamu Nishimura [IWGP Tag Team Championship], NJPW (4/4/1998) Nishimura was great here, and really showed a lot. He's all about defending the art of STRONG STYLE~ against the NWO, but they cheat and use chairs to isolate him, and he's a great FIP. Hashimoto wrecks all the ass in his comeback, and they play off the end of the 97 Tag League really well. Hash gets caught in the Figure Four while his partner is in the STF, BUT THIS TIME HASH GETS TO THE ROPES! YEAH! He comes back again to get the tag and Nishimura has some great nearfalls. He survives a ton of Yakuza Kicks, but then eats a Backdrop Driver. He gets stuck in the Butterfly Lock, and has to tap. ![]() ***1/4 Kensuke Sasaki [c] vs. Tatsumi Fujinami [IWGP Heavyweight Championship], NJPW (4/4/1998) This is a mistake. It's not particularly engaging in any way, and the story is basically a low rent version of Hash/Choshu from 1996 where it's the old guy's last try and he just won't give up. But Sasaki lacks Hash's intensity or intelligence, and Fujinami lacks the intensity of Choshu and especially the fire. It's not bad at all, but it just never really works. And to make it even more embarrassing in hindsight, Fujinami wins abruptly with a German Suplex after it takes 15 minutes to get this to an engaging place and 3 of cool stuff. **1/4 |
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| Big Tuna | Dec 18 2013, 01:49 AM Post #59 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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Jushin Liger vs. Tatsuhiko Takaiwa, NJPW (5/16/1998) This got 8 minutes, and ruled. Takaiwa brings the power game, Liger throws bombs to keep up. Due to all the clipping, we don't get the kind of complexity like the 96/97 stuff, but it's always really cool TV length spotfests. Takaiwa is the first guy ever to BLOCK a Shotei, and hits a barrage of Lariats. He does a Punch Shotei, Northern Lariat, and finishes with a final regular Lariat to pin Liger. *** Shinjiro Ohtani vs. Dr. Wagner Jr., NJPW (5/17/1998) There's a lot online from BOSJ 98, so yay. Wagner doesn't do a lot of really flashy things, but all his stuff is really smooth and crisp. This is only a little clipped, so whatever. Wagner throws some mean Lariats and has a nice Powerbomb, basically doing what Dos Caras did in the 1995 M-Pro Mask League. Ohtani can't hook him for the Dragon Suplex, so Wagner ends up with an upset after the Michinoku Driver. *** Shinjiro Ohtani vs. El Samurai, NJPW (5/19/1998) This is super JIP and only gets 5 minutes, so it's not great. They generally do their thing and Ohtani wins with the Dragon Suplex. **1/2 Jushin Liger vs. Shinjiro Ohtani, NJPW (5/28/1998) This gets 12, but is basically just a retread. Liger works the knee a little bit, and Ohtani then works his arm more. Liger sells it well and they do a lot of big moves. Brainbusters, dropping on heads, Shoteis, etc. I feel like this is getting a little predictable, but it's still entertaining enough. Liger wins with a regular ass Powerbomb. *** |
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| Big Tuna | Dec 19 2013, 10:21 PM Post #60 |
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The Master and Ruler Of The World
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Koji Kanemoto vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. [1998 BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS FINALS], NJPW (6/3/1998) Kanemoto becomes a man. The story is greater than the match due to a big focus issue, but I loved like 80% of this, which is enough for a three when it ends this well and the issue's in the middle. Wagner dominates Kanemoto all match with lucha matwork and his power and experience advantage. Kanemoto is a cocky little shit, but that gets shut down. Wagner keeps going for the leg, but Koji never sells it and they kind of just move on, so it's like half a waste of time, since it helps drive in the domination on the mat. Koji survives the Michinoku Drivers, and magically comes back just in time to pop off a Tiger Suplex to win the tournament finally. *** Masahiro Chono/Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Shiro Koshinaka [Vacant IWGP Tag Team Championship], NJPW (6/5/1998) Mutoh fucked his knee up, so this is for the vacancy. TENRYU LIVES. I've missed him so. He gets Tenzan to hit him really hard and brings out a brutality out of Chono that hasn't been there in a long time, including an awesome flurry of punches. This drags when Koshinaka is in, but Tenryu's highs are just incredible so it evens out to almost great. Tenzan also kind of becomes a man here, as he's isolated a lot by the veterans, but comes through at the end to regain the titles for ChoTen with a Diving Headbutt on Koshinaka. **3/4 Jushin Liger vs. Dr. Wagner Jr., NJPW (7/2/1998) As always, the non big-show junior matches are clipped to shit. This gets under six minutes, and is completely JIP, so it's not GREAT, but it's the finishing run of a great match. Cool moves happen for kickouts, and Liger hits the Super Brainbuster for the win. **3/4 Shinjiro Ohtani/Koji Kanemoto vs. El Samurai/Kendo Kashin, NJPW (7/2/1998) Same deal, but with 7 minutes, so this has a more legit shot at greatness. We get the awesome Ohtani/Kanemoto control seg on Kashin before things break down, so there's more of a sense of a match than the collection of spots in Liger/Doc. Kanemoto especially kicks a lot of ass before Samurai gets in for the finishing run. Samurai randomly goes insane when he's against Ohtani and hits a Tornado Reverse DDT for the upset. *** Masahiro Chono/Hiroyoshi Tenzan [c] vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Shiro Koshinaka [IWGP Tag Team Championship], NJPW (7/15/1998) This is better, as it's much more frantic, but still flawed. The challengers go after Chono's leg, but Tenzan tries to save by turning it into a huge brawl. This works against Koshinaka, but Tenryu is in that Toughest Motherfucker Ever category and destroys him on the floor. Chono doesn't really sell though and the middle sort of happens again. Tenryu weirdly wins the title with a Lariat on Chono. **3/4 |
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6:53 PM Jul 10