-1hr. Q=Master
Nobukazu Hirai vs. Yuji Yasuraoka 9:38
Hiromichi Fuyuki & Ultimo Dragon vs. La Fiera & Ponzona 12:20
Takashi Ishikawa vs. Ashura Hara 17:28
King Haku vs. Kerry von Erich 13:18
Tatsumi Kitahara & The Great Kabuki vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Masao Orihara 21:47
Nobukazu Hirai vs. Yuji Yasuraoka
Masao Orihara vs. Ponzona
Ultimo Dragon vs. La Fiera
Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Kerry von Erich
Takashi Ishikawa vs. Koki Kitahara
Ashura Hara & Genichiro Tenryu vs. King Haku & The Great Kabuki
7/15/92
Masao Orihara vs. Ponzona
Ultimo Dragon vs. La Fiera
Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Kerry von Erich
Takashi Ishikawa vs. Koki Kitahara
Ashura Hara & Genichiro Tenryu vs. King Haku & The Great Kabuki
12/2/99
Jun Izumida vs. Makoto Hashi 11:51
Masao Inoue & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Kentaro Shiga & Yoshinobu Kanemaru 13:06
Johnny Ace & Mike Barton vs. Maunakea Mossman & Tamon Honda 16:54
'99 World's Strongest Tag League: Jun Akiyama & Kenta Kobashi [10] vs. Gary Albright & Wolf Hawkfield [2] 3:49
Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Hiroshi Inomata
Nobukazu Hirai & Yoshiro Ito vs. Chavo Guerrero & Paul Diamond
Ultimo Dragon vs. Negro Casas
The Great Kabuki vs. Takashi Ishikawa
Handicap Match: LOD Animal Warrior vs. The Beverly Brothers (Bo Beverly & Blake Beverly)
Undertaker vs. King Haku
2/3 Falls WWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Ric Flair vs. Genichiro Tenryu
Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Hiroshi Inomata
Nobukazu Hirai & Yoshiro Ito vs. Chavo Guerrero & Paul Diamond
Masao Orihara vs. Masashi Aoyagi
Ultimo Dragon vs. Negro Casas
Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Koki Kitahara
The Great Kabuki vs. Takashi Ishikawa
Handicap Match: Animal Warrior vs. The Beverly Brothers (Bo Beverly & Blake Beverly)
Undertaker vs. King Haku
2/3 Falls WWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Ric Flair vs. Genichiro Tenryu
9/15/92 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena
Masao Orihara vs. Masashi Aoyagi
Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura vs. Samson Fuyuki & Koki Kitahara
10/21/92 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara & Masao Orihara vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura & Masashi Aoyagi
Masao Orihara vs. Akitoshi Saito 11:14. Amazingly good wrestler vs. martial artist match, with fiery up and comer Orihara giving an all-star performance in carrying limited bruiser Saito to probably the most successful match of his career. Orihara was on the rise but far from exceptional at this point, and there are definitely some creaky moments where the fakeness was readily apparently, but as a whole they succeeded on desire, passion, and emotion. Everyone being jacked up for an early encounter in the NJPW vs. WAR interpromotional feud was a huge plus they were able to build the match around. From a technical standpoint, the match was no better than good, but the heat, hatred, and intensity coming from both the performers and the fans made it riveting and memorable. One reason the atmosphere was so great is the WAR fans are completely rabid, taking offense to the idea of NJPW being the better league, and just going nuts for their boys. They structured the match to not only play into their strengths, but garner the loudest pops. Saito is the tougher more dominant fighter who thrives on kicking the stuffing out of his opposition, so he dominated the match, with Orihara displaying enough quickness and guile to always be in the match. Orihara did an excellent job of putting over Saito’s strikes, which when they connected were extra brutal because interpromotional matches are “real”, including a knee that busted Orihara’s mouth hard way. Orihara would transition into a submission at regular intervals, often enough to keep the fans, who were standing up and swinging their fists from bell to bell, believing in him. He played the fiesty underdog who wanted so badly to succeed, making every choke sleeper or Achilles’ tendon hold into an event by playing them for all they were worth. The controversial finish where Orihara claimed he kicked out was not my favorite, but the post match was well played with Orihara grabbing the ref and threatening him then Masashi Aoyagi coming in and cleaning house on the WAR guys. ***3/4
Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara 19:45. Tenryu & Koshinaka know exactly what they are doing in these heated situations, putting on a clinic in simple but effective brawling. They don’t deal in garbage; they brawl by serving up fistfuls of hatred. They are not merely stiff, but malicious with Tenryu putting that little extra into everything to the point he ran so hard he went flying over the top rope after his own lariat! What separates these two from so many others and makes them superb at these rivalry matches is they know 100 ways to incite each other as well as the fans, and implement one at every turn. The primary story was Kitahara getting pummelled, with Koshinaka & Kimura making no real attempt to pin him because they preferred to goad Tenryu by mercilessly slaughtering his boy. There were only spurts of wrestling, almost all of which involved Tenryu vs. Koshinaka, and even then I’m mostly thinking of the finish, but this truly was a WAR. The bad blood from the earlier match carried over to this rival league must die match, as they started beating each other up from the moment the second team walked out. It didn’t take long for the blood to flow, with the seconds joining in from time to time, including Orihara gaining a measure of revenge by beating Saito & Aoyagi up with a chair. There was often too much going on to keep up with, but it was wild rather than chaotic. The fans were very unruly by Japanese standards, regularly littering the ring with objects including a fan scoring a bullseye on Kimura to punish him for having the gall to make a save. Though Kimura was at his most savage, he was by far the weak link. He played a Masa Fuchi style irksome pest, but in a very bland manner as he can stomp, but lacks Fuchi’s craftiness and meanspirited nature. Though a totally different style from the previous match, it was another spiteful, intense and passionate interpromotional battle with massive heat. No one cared that the match ended, the feud was just beginning! Kimura wanted revenge, but Tenryu dispatched of him and kept giving Koshinaka powerbombs until Masa Saito made the save. ****
Chavo Guerrero vs. Yuji Yasuraoka 10:31
El Samurai vs. Hiroshi Inomata 8:45
Koki Kitahara vs. Nobukazu Hirai 13:57
Ultimo Dragon vs. Bestia Salvaje 13:31
King Haku & King Iaukea Jr. vs. John Tenta & Yoshiro Ito 20:22
Ashura Hara vs. Takashi Ishikawa 15:37
Akitoshi Saito & Masashi Aoyagi & The Great Kabuki vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Masao Orihara 15:51
Canvas of Dream: Ultimo Dragon & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Bestia Salvaje & El Samurai
Miracle Match: The Great Kabuki vs. Tatsutoshi Goto
Hiromuchi Fuyuki & Koki Kitahara vs. Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka
Super Power Fight: King Haku vs. The Earthquake John Tenta
Ashura Hara vs. Riki Choshu
The Battle of Revolution: Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Hiroshi Hase
Masashi Aoyagi vs. Nobukazu Hirai 8:04
Jushin Thunder Liger & Ultimo Dragon vs. Bestia Salvaje & El Samurai 15:50
The Great Kabuki vs. Tatsutoshi Goto 7:29
Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Koki Kitahara 13:33
John Tenta vs. King Haku 13:01
Riki Choshu vs. Ashura Hara 5:31
Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Hiroshi Hase & Tatsumi Fujinami 18:33
Ultimo Dragon & Nobukazu Hirai vs. El Samurai (NJ) & Rio Lord of the Jungle
Koki Kitahara & Masao Orihara vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura (NJ/HI team)
Ashura Hara & Earthquake John Tenta vs. The Great Kabuki & King Haku
Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Shinya Hashimoto (NJ)
Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Riki Choshu & Osamu Kido (NJ team)
Yoshiro Ito vs. Yuji Yasuraoka 7:48
Rio Lord Of The Jungle vs. Nobukazu Hirai 19:49
Ultimo Dragon vs. El Samurai 17:38
Koki Kitahara vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi 11:17
John Tenta vs. King Haku 6:17
Michiyoshi Ohara & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Ashura Hara & Hiromichi Fuyuki 17:43
Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka & The Great Kabuki vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Masao Orihara & Takashi Ishikawa 19:46
Ultimo Dragon & Masao Orihara vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai. Heated match with Orihara in particular playing the interpromotional rivalry for all it was worth. Great work. Great spots that had meaning. Awesome 3 dive sequence with a great quebrada by Dragon, a great tope con hilo by Samurai, and an Orihara moonsault by Orihara to finish it off. Built really well. Only downside was that Orihara blew a couple spots, including completely overshooting a moonsault. ****1/4
Dick Slater vs. King Haku. They worked at a snails pace so it was quite boring even though not technically horrid. *
The Earthquake John Tenta vs. Rio Lord of Jungle (aka Renegade). Earthquake carried the match and Renegade sold most of the way so you can imagine the horror. -1/2*
Super Strong Machine & Ashura Hara & Fuyuki & Koki Kitahara vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura & Akitoshi Saito & Michiyoshi Ohara (NJ team). Shiro & co. concentrated on taking out the defector SS Machine, but were unable to unmask him. Heated brawl. *
The Great Kabuki vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (NJ). Continuous rest holds. 1/4*
Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto. Good when Tenryu was in with Hashimoto. Great heat. Choshu & Ishikawa were unbelievably limited, as always, but helped with the stiffness, intensity & atmosphere. ***
UWA World Middleweight Title Match: El Samurai vs. Ultimo Dragon
Super Storng Machine & Koki Kitahara vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Tatsutoshi Goto
Masao Orihara vs. Masashi Aoyagi
King Haku & Earthquake John Tenta vs. Yoshihiro Ito & Dino Ventura
Shiro Koshinaka vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki
Kengo Kimura vs. Ashura Hara
Great Muta vs. Great Kabuki
Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Tatsumi Fujinami
Ultimo Dragon vs. Norio Honaga
Decisive Battle: Kodo Fuyuki vs. Hiroshi Hase
Call Up Storm: Koki Kitahara vs. Masahiro Chono
Exotic Spectacle: Ashura Hara vs. The Great Muta
Renaissance in BUDOKAN: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shinya Hashimoto ****
Nobukazu Hirai & Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Black Cat & Osamu Nishimura 12:03. Nishimura fought more of a junior style here as opposed to his usual Fujinami Jr. technical style to stay in line with what Yasuraoka was doing. He was largely the whipping boy anyway, as Black Cat of all people got the star treatment. At least that meant Cat barely worked, which certainly improved the overall quality of the match. Yasuraoka tried to get the crowd involved early with some flying, and it remained a decent if not particularly involving junior match throughout, showcasing the promising youngsters Yasuraoka & Nishimura. **1/4
Violence Stage I: Masashi Aoyagi vs. Takashi Ishikawa 5:26. Obviously these aren’t two of the more technically gifted wrestlers around, but they were able to make it a successful interpromotional grudge match. The match was very short, but that’s not a bad thing with these guys, as that’s part of the reason it was able to be good for what it was. They kept it simple, providing stiffness and intensity. Aoyagi jumped Ishikawa and kept the pressure on with his kicks. The finish came when Akitoshi Saito’s cheapshot kick backfired. Aoyagi may have lost, but that didn’t stop him from going to work on Ishikawa after the match, with Yasuraoka trying to help out but mainly deflecting the punishment.
Violence Stage II: Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto & Yoshihiro Ito vs. The Great Kabuki & Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura 11:33. Typical quick paced, regular tagging NJPW 6 man brawl consisting mostly of stomping and roughhousing. Very dull and repetitive with no one really doing any actual wrestling. *1/4
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shinya Hashimoto 18:23. Hashimoto was ascending to the top of New Japan at this point, just three months away from defeating Great Muta for his first run with the IWGP Heavyweight Title, but a win over one of his peers, even for the coveted title belt, could not cement his top star status. A victory over the man in a rival promotion, especially a legend such as Tenryu who has beaten everyone and anyone at some point or another, now that could do it. So the seeds were planted here, and in their rematch on 8/8/93, setting new champion Hashimoto up to get over the hump against Tenryu on 2/17/94, a victory that was more significant because he was the only wrestler from his generation to get a singles win over Tenryu during the NJPW vs. WAR program (Tenryu split with his peers Choshu & Fujinami, but defeated Chono, Hase, & Koshinaka). The structuring of this intense, high impact heavyweight war was a bit different, as it didn’t follow the typical three act trajectory. There was never any downtime; they came out slugging, wasting no offense, with Hashimoto seizing the advantage by injuring Tenryu’s left knee. Hashimoto pulled Tenryu’s kneepad down and kicked it until Tenryu could barely stand, intermitently throwing in a submission such as a kneebar. The fans really got into the match when Hashimoto used Tenryu’s own powerbomb on him for the first serious near fall. Hashimoto threw most of his arsenal at Tenryu before Tenryu was able to do consecutive offensive manuevers, which was more the problem of the match as that left few options to transition from the body to the climax. In the end, though Hashimoto pushed, stylistically it was more akin to the star vs. young boy matches as once Tenryu came back, he simply overwhelmed his opponent. Granted, this is probably a more realistic trajectory for a fight than the typical back and forth to maximize the drama, and the fans were ultimately going nuts anyway, but in the end it would probably be seen as a nice first attempt at scaling an impressive mountain. If we want to be kind, we can say that Hashimoto was close, but then it slipped away rather quickly. ****
Ultimo Dragon vs. Norio Honaga 10:08 shown. Both men played their roles well, but the chemistry wasn’t tremendous so it wasn’t as smooth or fluid as you might expect. Honaga controlled much of the match, slowing things down while playing rudo at every turn, which set Dragon up for his brief, flashy comebacks. Dragon tried to use his quickness to run circles around Honaga early, but Honaga kept cutting him off until the finishing sequence, which were conducted more or less at Dragon’s fast pace. Everything came together in the final minutes, as they delivered some hot counter laden sequences that showed the potential for a nice rivalry that unfortunately never came to fruition. ***1/4
Decisive Battle: Kodo Fuyuki vs. Hiroshi Hase 16:04 shown. The key difference between these two can be found in their brand of charisma. Hase’s brand is designed to excite people about the wrestling match, getting them into the moves and near falls, while Fuyuki’s cartoonish mannerisms simply call attention to the corniness of his unimpressive offense, thus detracting from our ability to take his headbutts, or really anything else, too seriously. They largely did Hase’s match in terms of it being quicker paced and more spot oriented technical wrestling with Fuyuki keeping his antics to groans and caws. It was proficient enough, but tended to meander, as much of Hase’s work does. ***
Power of One: The Earthquake John Tenta & King Haku vs. Tony Halme & The Barbarian 9:14 shown. They made an effort to not do a WWF match. The pace was still rather slow, but they ditched the usual stalling and rest holds and delivered stiffer, more high impact offense. It was still uninspiring, but all very passable. Halme did a massive blade job at the outset after sustaining a stuff piledriver on the floor. *1/2
Call Up Storm: Koki Kitahara vs. Masahiro Chono 13:31. Kitahara is one of those guys that had all the talent to become a star, but never really did. He would have been perfect for UWF-I, as he was an extremely tough and intense shooter, and in that promotion no one would have noticed he was undersized. In fact, he’d have been a larger, more skilled and charismatic version of Tatsuo Nakano. Kitahara was noticably shorter than Chono, who isn’t exactly a giant of the heavyweight division, but the fact that Chono could basically wrestle as if he were taking on Hashimoto says something for Kitahara’s ability. Of course, though stylistically very similar, Kitahara was some 70 odd pounds lighter and without the substantial push of Hashimoto, so while he was competitive throughout, this was decidedly a match where he was hanging with Chono rather than pushing him as Chono’s peer Hashimoto would have. As such, though it was all well done, it wasn’t the most dramatic match because there was no belief in the building. From a technical standpoint though, I’d rate this as the second best match on the show. Too bad it had the feel of a 1st round tournament match for one of the top seeds. ***
Exotic Spectacle: Ashura Hara vs. The Great Muta 11:58. Muta’s matches tend to annoy me, but I was more than usually disgusted by this needless slaughter. Hara’s career was winding down, but as Tenryu’s championship partner in the late 1980’s after he split with Jumbo Tsuruta, he was justifiably one of the bigger stars in WAR, and still more than capable of having an effective match, particularly a brawl. This, however, was a trecherous and pointlessly non-competitive brawl where Muta methodically overwhelmed an essentially helpless Hara. Muta busted Hara open early posting him then clobbering him with a bell and proceeded to wander aimlessly between the 2 or 3 things he did a minute for the duration of the contest. Muta’s matches bore the hell out of me because there’s no rhythm or flow, he basically scraps all his actual wrestling holds beyond a couple signature elbows and the moonsault and instead spends half the time stalking around like an idiot. So Hara spend most of the match lying on his back, waiting for Muta to make his way back over to him to stomp him, and it was neither good nor interesting in any regard. *
Masao Orihara vs. Shinjiro Otani
3 Min 5 Rd: Koki Kitahara vs. Richard Byrne
Mil Mascaras & Ultimo Dragon vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai
Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Hiroshi Hase
Ashura Hara vs. Osamu Kido
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Masahiro Chono
10/1/93 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Akitoshi Saito vs. Masao Orihara
10/11/93 Fukui Kenritsu Taiikukan:
Masao Orihara vs. Akitoshi Saito
Masashi Aoyagi vs. Koki Kitahara
10/1/93: Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Super Strong Machine & Koki Kitahara
10/11/93: Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Super Strong Machine
10/1/93: Ultimo Dragon vs. Mil Mascaras
10/11/93: Mil Mascaras & Ultimo Dragon vs. Stan Lane & Earthquake John Tenta
10/1/93: Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono vs. Ashura Hara & Genichiro Tenyru
10/11/93: Genichiro Tenyru & Ashura Hara vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Osamu Kido
10/1/93 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Akitoshi Saito vs. Masao Orihara
10/11/93 Fukui Kenritsu Taiikukan:
Masao Orihara vs. Akitoshi Saito
Masashi Aoyagi vs. Koki Kitahara
10/1/93: Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Super Strong Machine & Koki Kitahara
10/11/93: Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Super Strong Machine
10/1/93: Ultimo Dragon vs. Mil Mascaras
10/11/93: Mil Mascaras & Ultimo Dragon vs. Stan Lane & Earthquake John Tenta
10/1/93: Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono vs. Ashura Hara & Genichiro Tenyru
10/11/93: Genichiro Tenyru & Ashura Hara vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Osamu Kido 11:04 shown. Stiff, heated, and intense rivalry match that kept you wanting more. It was a vintage Tenryu & Hara bad attitude beatdown, though in this case Hashimoto & Chono gave at least as well as they took. Tenryu was 1-0 against both in singles, but it was clear this match was more designed to set him up for a rematch against Hashimoto. They were the strongest combo, as Hashimoto wanted him so badly, and was really fiery and fierce in his attacks. Chono enjoyed putting the boots to Tenryu too, but he didn't convey the hatred the way Tenryu & especially Hashimoto did. This had all the potential to be an excellent match, but they never really transitioned from the rivalry stuff into a finishing sequence; they just beat on each other for a while then finally did a few spots and it was over. ***1/2 range
UWA Middleweight Title Match: Ultimo Dragon vs. Atlantis
Earthquake John Tenta vs. Warlord
Ashura Hara & Ishinriki vs. King Haku & Masao Orihara
Great Kabuki vs. Black Cat
Hiroshi Hase vs. Koki Kitahara
Mil Mascaras vs. Gran Markus jr.
Super Strong Machine & Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Tatsutoshi Goto
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami
UWA World Middleweight Title Match: Ultimo Dragon vs. Ishinriki
Mil Mascaras vs. Pierroth Jr.
Yuji Yasuroka vs.Tatsuhito Takaiwa
Masanobu Kurisu vs. Karate guy
Norman Smiley vs. Masao Orihara
Ashura Hara & Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Tatsutoshi Goto
Keiji Muto & El Samurai vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara
Lion Heart (Jericho) vs. Rio Lord Of The Jungle (Renegade). Jericho did a few good moves, but Rio brought nothing to the table. 1:33 shown
Ultimo Dragon vs. Koji Ishinriki. Ishinriki wasn't on the level. Still, the work was good. Unfortunately, it was way too short with the finish coming out of nowhere. **
WARgun vs. HanWARgun (anti war group) 5 single match series
Ashura Hara vs. King Haku. Brawl with a bunch of strikes back and forth, but they weren't stiff enough to make it much good. Still, considering how limited these two are, it was better than expected. *1/2
Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Gedo. Didn't seem to be any good, with Gedo appearing to do very little, but the editing really killed any flow it may have had. 5:17 shown
Nobukazu Hirai vs. Jado. Jado did a good job of playing heel here. Hirai was largely dominated, but would come close to getting flash pins. Unfortunately, when it came time for him to actually get the flash pin, he blew the spot and the finish looked terrible. *3/4
Masao Orihara vs. Arashi. Arashi is so unathletic that nothing he does looks good. He had a huge size advantage, so he didn't sell anything and just made Orihara look like a jobber. DUD
Takashi Ishikawa vs. Kim Duk. Duk attacked Ishikawa's injured shoulder, but then just up and left it to attack the leg. This set up the flash pin finish, but they could have just went to the flash pin from an an arm/shoulder submission, so it was goofy. *
Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Super Strong Machine. The stiff, high impact stuff you'd expect from Tenryu & Kitahara. Fuyuki took the match down as you'd expect, but he wasn't too goofy and did try. **1/4
11/11/93 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ashura Hara. This was the same style as the Hara vs. Haku match, except Tenryu is worlds better than Haku. Nothing flashy, but good old fashioned ass kicking. Hara was beat raw in the upper chest toward the shoulder. Tenryu was pretty nasty here, even delivering some hard blows to the throat. Hara took a big beating because he was largely dominated, but he got just enough offense in to keep you from writing him off. ***1/4
Jado & Gedo vs. Nobukazu Hirai & Masanobu Kurisu. Decent
Koki Kitahara vs. Kim Duk. 3 1/2 minutes shown. Poor.
Five 3-minute Rounds: Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Arashi. Poor
Ultimo Dragon & Masao Orihara vs. The Great Sasuke & SATO (Michinoku Pro team). ****1/4
Super Strong Machine vs. Lion Heart. 1 minute shown.
King Haku vs. Mr. Hughes. 1 minute shown.
Koji Ishinriki vs. Koji Kitao. 1/2*
Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto (FMW team). **1/2
Note: some matches are digested
Nobukazu Hirai vs. Yamato
Elimination Match: Takashi Ishikawa & Koki Kitahara & Ultimo Dragon & Masanobu Kurisu vs. Super Strong Machine & Jado & Gedo & Ricky Fuji
Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras vs. Koji Ishinriki & Lion Heart
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Arashi
Koji Kitao vs. King Haku
WAR Puroresu Fan Appreciation Day 5/22/94 digest
Sparring 3Min 3R: Animal Hamaguchi vs. Nobukazu Hirai
3Min 5R: Koki Kitahara vs. Arashi
Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo vs. Ashura Hara & Daitako (Osamu Tachihikari)
Rick Martel vs. The 1-2-3 Kid
Tatanka vs. Jinsei Shinzaki
World Tag Title: Fatu & Samu vs. Bart Gunn & Billy Gunn
Doink vs. Nobukazu Hirai
Bull Nakano vs. Alundra Blayze
Owen Hart vs. Masashi Aoyagi
Adam Bomb vs. Bob Backlund
Bam Bam Bigelow & Yokozuna vs. Genichiro Tenryu & The Undertaker
World Heavyweight Title: Bret Hart vs. Randy Savage
Samu vs. Nobukazu Hirai
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. The 1-2-3 Kid
Tatanka vs. Fatu
Doink & Owen Hart vs. Bart Gunn & Billy Gunn
World Women's Title: Alundra Blayze vs. Sakie Hasegawa
Bob Backlund vs. Masashi Aoyagi
The Undertaker vs. Yokozuna
Adam Bomb & Rick Martel vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Randy Savage
World Heavyweight Title: Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Fatu vs 1-2-3 Kid
Bret Hart & Randy Savage vs. Adam Bomb & Owen Hart
The Undertaker vs. Hakushi
Women's Title: Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano
Yokozuna vs. Genichiro Tenryu
Osaka Royal Rumble
Nobukazu Hirai vs. Yuji Yasuraoka
WAR World Six Man Tag Title Tournament First Round
Gedo & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado vs. Hideo Takayama & Hiroshi Itakura & Ichiro Yaguchi
Arashi & Ashura Hara & Super Strong Machine vs. Brett Como & Dos Caras & Lionheart 30:00
Masao Orihara & Shiryu & The Great Sasuke vs. Koji Ishinriki & Masanobu Kurisu & Takashi Ishikawa
Animal Hamaguchi & Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara vs. Kendo Nagasaki & Kishin Kawabata & Ryo Miyake
WAR World Six Man Tag Title Tournament Semifinals
Gedo & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado vs. Brett Como & Dos Caras & Lionheart
Animal Hamaguchi & Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara vs. Masao Orihara & Shiryu & The Great Sasuke
Rumi Kazama & Shinobu Kandori vs. Eagle Sawai & Harley Saito
WAR World Six Man Tag Title Tournament Third Place: Masao Orihara & Shiryu & The Great Sasuke vs. Brett Como & Dos Caras & Lionheart
WAR World Six Man Tag Title Tournament Final Match: Gedo & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado vs. Animal Hamaguchi & Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara
WAR World Six Man Tag Title Tournament First Round
Gedo & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado vs. Hideo Takayama & Hiroshi Itakura & Ichiro Yaguchi
Arashi & Ashura Hara & Super Strong Machine vs. Brett Como & Dos Caras & Lionheart 30:00
Masao Orihara & Shiryu & The Great Sasuke vs. Koji Ishinriki & Masanobu Kurisu & Takashi Ishikawa
Animal Hamaguchi & Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara vs. Kendo Nagasaki & Kishin Kawabata & Ryo Miyake
WAR World Six Man Tag Title Tournament Semifinals
Gedo & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado vs. Brett Como & Dos Caras & Lionheart
Animal Hamaguchi & Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara vs. Masao Orihara & Shiryu & The Great Sasuke
WAR World Six Man Tag Title Tournament Final Match: Gedo & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado vs. Animal Hamaguchi & Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara
SUPER BATTLE of 6 MEN 1st Round
Ashura Hara & Earthquake John Tenta & Jinsei Shinzaki (Michinoku Pro) vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo (Fuyuki-gun). These guys aren't very good, but they worked a fast pace and did all their spots. The fans going wild also helped the match seem better than it was. **1/2 range
Koki Kitahara & Takashi Ishikawa & Koji Ishinriki vs. Koji Kitao & Akio Kobayashi & Masaaki Mochizuki (Bukoh Dojo team). Kitao's team did the martial arts gimmick, but the WAR team didn't put it over when Kitao wasn't in the ring. Instead, the more than matched the kicks of Kitao's understudies. Kitahara & Mochizuki's strikes were very believable, but overall this wasn't much of a match. *1/2 range
Kendo Nagasaki (NOW) & Masashi Aoyagi & Arashi vs. Animal Hamaguchi & Nobukazu Hirai & Shoichi Funaki (PWFG). The good thing about this show was that everyone was fired up because it was a major interpromotional show. The bad thing is guys like Kendo Nagasaki suck even when they are into it. Funaki & surprisingly Aoyagi were pretty good here. *
Warlord (WWF) & Vampiro (Mexico) & Lion Heart vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Atsushi Onita (FMW) & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow (WWF). Jericho vs. Tenryu was pretty good, but no one else made any kind of contribution. Onita tried to work a totally straight match, so he was so incredibly bad. Onita was incredibly over thought, but this match didn't have as much heat as I expected, probably because the outcome was never in doubt. *3/4
SUPER BATTLE of 6 MEN Semifinals
Koki Kitahara & Takashi Ishikawa & Koji Ishinriki vs. Ashura Hara & Earthquake John Tenta & Jinsei Shinzaki. They didn't play anything up here, so the match just meandered along as a slow, plodding, 80's WWF style match. 3/4*
Genichiro Tenryu & Atsushi Onita & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Kendo Nagasaki & Masashi Aoyagi & Arashi. Tenryu worked hard to make this good. They played up Onita vs. Aoyagi since they had a lot of history together, and they had another rematch coming up. This had more brawling, including Kendo throwing row after row of chairs onto Tenryu until Onita made the save. Also, Onita bladed here. **1/4
UWA World Middleweight Title: Ultimo Dragon vs. The Great Sasuke 22:23. I loved this match so much when I was a kid. It's such an incredibly athletic match, with Sasuke at the height of his worship at the church of suicidal. Looking at it again all these years later, there's definitely a few spots I'm still in awe of, but overall, it seems very indyish. They never quite seemed to actually get in step and on the same page until the final minutes, resulting in more of an enjoyable car crash than something that actually worked as a wrestling match. The junior parity stuff early on isn't it particularly impressive, as it's kind of telegraphed and deliberate. The match really takes off with Sasuke missing the senton atomico, but connecting on a wild quebrada over the guardrail. From here, the stunts are so impressive that you might be able to distract yourself from the rest. Sasuke blocks Dragon's superplex, so Dragon dropkicks him to the floor, and hits his own beautiful quebrada over the guardrail. The spectacle then peeks, as Sasuke answers with a tope con giro into the guardrail entrance. The match never became dramatic, but they did right the ship work wise for the finish spam, culminating impressively with Dragon dropkicking Sasuke out of the air to stop his quebrada, then hitting a corkscrew senton for the win. These two were definitely doing their best to push the boundaries athletically, but because a large, and generally the more entertaining portion of 21st century wrestling has become top this athletic exhibitions, even if this had been better worked, I'm not sure how well it would have aged. ***3/4
SUPER BATTLE of 6 MEN Final
Genichiro Tenryu & Atsushi Onita & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Ashura Hara & Earthquake John Tenta & Jinsei Shinzaki. Long boring match with no spectacular moves and not much of a story. *1/4
9/29/94 Hotel East 21 Tokyo
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki. Digest
10/3/94 Nagasaki-ken Sogo Taiikukan
Koki Kitahara vs. Masao Orihara. Digest
Ultimo Dragon vs. Dos Caras. Digest
Animal Hamaguchi & Bob Backlund vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Gedo. Digest
10/11/94 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Ultimo Dragon & Ultimo Dragoncito vs. Pierroth Jr. & Pierroth Jr. Cito
Koki Kitahara vs. Koji Kitao
WAR World 6 Man Tag Titles: Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo vs. Bob Backlund & Dos Caras & Vampiro Casanova
Handicap Match: Genichiro Tenryu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Kendo Nagasaki & Kim Duk & Arashi & Hiroshi Itakura
10/3/94 Nagasaki-ken Sogo Taiikukan
Ashura Hara Intai LAST 3: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ashura Hara
Mikiko Futagami & Mizuki Endo vs. Jen Yukari & Michiko Omukai 13:32
Masao Orihara vs. Yuji Yasuraoka 15:55
Mini Dragon & Ultimo Dragon vs. Morgan Jr. & Pirata Morgan 17:10
Animal Hamaguchi & Ryuma Go vs. Masanobu Kurisu & Nobukazu Hirai 15:54
John Kronus & Perry Saturn vs. Hiroshi Itakura & Vampiro Casanova 8:36
Gedo & Jado vs. Aka Oni & Ao Oni 14:42
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Koki Kitahara 10:34
Lumberjack: Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Kendo Nagasaki 17:53
Ultimo Dragon & Mini Dragon vs. Pirata Morgan & Morgan Jr
Perry Saturn & John Kronus (The Eliminators) vs. Masao Orihara & Nobukazu Hirai
Osamu Tachihikari Debut Match: Kendo Nagasaki vs. Osamu Tachihikari
Animal Hamaguchi & Ryuma Go vs. Akaoni & Aooni
300,000-en SCRAMBLE WAR:
a) Koki Kitahara vs. Vampiro Casanova
b) Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Tatsumi Kitahara
c) Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Vampiro Casanova
Fuyuki-gun vs. Heisei Ishingun, WAR 6 Man Tag Title Match: Jado & Gedo & Kodo Fuyuki vs. Kengo Kimura & Akitoshi Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Koji Kitao
Note: matches in paragraph are digest 1-2 minutes, matches listed separately are complete or at least given some time
Disc 1
7/15/92 Korakuen Hall Tokyo
Nobukazu Hirai vs. Yuji Yasuuraoka, Masao Orihara vs. Ponzona, Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Kerry Von Erich, Ultimo Dragon vs. La Fiera, Takashi Ishikawa vs. Koki Kitahara
Ashura Hara & Genichiro Tenryu vs. King Haku & Great Kabuki
9/15/92 Yokohama Arena
Yuji Yasuroaka vs. Koji Inomata, Chavo Guerrero & Paul Diamond vs. Nobukazu Hirai & Yoshihiro Ito, Masao Orihara vs. Masashi Aoyagi, Ultimo Dragon vs. Negro Casas
Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Koki Kitahara
Great Kabuki vs. Takashi Ishikawa, Handicap Match: Road Warrior Animal vs. Beau & Blake Beverly
The Undertaker vs. King Haku
2/3 Falls WWF Title: Ric Flair vs. Genichiro Tenryu
10/21/92 Sapporo
Javier Cruz vs. Nobukazu Hirai, Pierroth Jr vs. Yuji Yasuraoka, Takashi Ishikawa vs. Yoshiro Ito, King Haku vs. Koko B. Ware
Ultimo Dragon vs. Owen Hart
Akitoshi Saito & Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara & Masao Orihara
2/14/93 Tokyo
King Iaukea Jr vs. Yuji Yasuraoka, Masao Orihara vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr, Masashi Aoyagi vs. Nobukazu Hirai
Jushin Liger & Ultimo Dragon vs. Bestia Salvaje & El Samurai
Disc 2
Great Kabuki vs. Tatsutoshi Goto, John Tenta vs. King Haku
Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Koki Kitahara
Riki Choshu vs. Ashura Hara
Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Hiroshi Hase & Tatsumi Fujinami
3/3/93 Yokohama
Yoshiro Ito vs. Hiroshi Inomata, Masashi Aoyagi vs. Yuji Yasuraoka, Ultimo Dragon & Nobukazu Hirai vs. El Samurai & Rio Lord of the Jungle
Koki Kitahara & Masao Orihara vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura
Ashura Hara & Earthquake John Tenta vs. Great Kabuki & King Haku
Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Shinya Hashimoto
Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Riki Choshu & Osamu Kido
4/2/93 Sendai
El Samurai & Jushin Liger vs. Masao Orihara & Ultimo Dragon, King Haku vs. Dick Slater, John Tenta vs. Rio Lord of the Jungle,
Akitoshi Saito & Kengo Kimura & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Ashura Hara & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Koki Kitahara & Super Strong Machine
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Great Kabuki
Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa
Disc 3
5/24/93 Osaka
UWA World Middleweight Title: El Samurai vs. Ultimo Dragon, Super Strong Machine & Koki Kitahara vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Tatsutoshi Goto, Masao Orihara vs. Masashi Aoyagi, King Haku & Earthquake John Tenta vs. Yoshihiro Ito & Dino Ventura, Shiro Koshinaka vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki, Kengo Kimura vs. Ashura Hara
Great Muta vs. Great Kabuki
Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Tatsumi Fujinami
6/17/93 Tokyo
Nobukazu Hirai & Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Black Cat & Osamu Nishimura, Masashi Aoyagi vs. Takashi Ishikawa, Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto & Yoshihiro Ito vs. Great Kabuki & Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura, Ultimo Dragon vs. Norio Honaga
Hiroshi Hase vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki
Earthquake John Tenta & King Haku vs. Tony Halme & The Barbarian, Koki Kitahara vs. Masahiro Chono
Ashura Hara vs. Great Muta
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shinya Hashimoto
Disc 4
9/12/93 Chiba
Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Nobukazu Hirai, Masao Orihara vs. Shinjiro Otani, Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. John Tenta & King Haku, 3Min 5 Rounds Koki Kitahara vs. Richard Byrne
Mil Mascaras & Ultimo Dragon vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai
Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Hiroshi Hase
Ashura Hara vs. Osamu Kido
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Masahiro Chono
10/1/93 Sapporo
Nobukazu Hirai vs. Satoshi Kojima, Stan Lane vs. Yuji Yasuraoka, Akitoshi Saito vs. Masao Orihara, John Tenta vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki, Great Kabuki vs. Black Cat,
Koki Kitahara & Super Strong Machine vs. Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Saito
Mil Mascaras vs. Ultimo Dragon
Ashura Hara & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Masahiro CHono & Shinya Hashimoto
10/11/93 Fukui
Black Cat vs. Yuji Yasuraoka, Akitoshi Saito vs. Masao Orihara, Koki Kitahara vs. Masashi Aoyagi, Great Kabuki vs. Nobukazu Hirai
Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Super Strong Machine
Mil Mascaras & Ultimo Dragon vs. John Tenta & Stan Lane
Ashura Hara & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Osamu Kido & Tatsumi Fujinami
Disc 5
11/11/93 Tokyo: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ashura Hara
12/15/93 Tokyo
Nobukazu Hirai & Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yuji Nagata, Great Kabuki vs. Black Cat, UWA World Middleweight Title: Ultimo Dragon vs. Atlantis, John Tenta vs. Warlord, Ashura Hara & Ishinriki vs. King Haku & Masao Orihara, Hiroshi Hase vs. Koki Kitahara, Mil Mascaras vs. El Gran Markus Jr, Hiromichi Fuyuki & Super Strong Machine vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Tatsutoshi Goto
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami
1/5/94 Osaka
Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Masanobu Kurisu vs. Kihara, Norman Smiley vs. Masao Orihara
Great Kabuki vs. Nobukazu Hirai, UWA Middleweight Title: Ultimi Dragon vs. Ishinriki, Yuji Yasuroka vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Masanobu Kurisu vs. Kihara, Norman Smiley vs. Masao Orihara
Mil Mascaras vs. Pierroth Jr
Ashura Hara & Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Tatsutoshi Goto
Keiji Muto & El Samurai vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara
2/24/94 Tokyo
Lion Heart (Chris Jericho) vs. Rio Lord of the Jungle, Ultimo Dragon vs. Koji Ishinriki,
Ashura Hara vs. King Haku
Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Gedo, Nobukazu Hirai vs. Jado, Masao Orihara vs. Arashi
Takashi Ishikawa vs. Kim Duk
Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Super Strong Machine
3/2/94 Tokyo
Jado & Gedo vs. Nobukazu Hirai & Masanobu Kurisu, Koki Kitahara vs. Kim Duk, Rounds Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Arashi
Ultimo Dragon & Masao Orihara vs. Great Sasuke & SATO
Super Strong Machine vs. Lion Heart, King Haku vs. Mr. Hughes, Koji Ishinriki vs. Koji Kitao
Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto
4/27/94 Tokyo
Nobukazu Hirai vs. Yamato, Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras vs. Koji Ishinriki & Lion Heart Chris Jericho
Elimination Match: Takashi Ishikawa & Koki Kitahara & Ultimo Dragon & Masanobu Kurisu vs. Super Strong Machine & Jado & Gedo & Ricky Fuji
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Arashi
Koji Kita vs. King Haku
Disc 7
5/22/94 Tokyo
Sparring Match: Animal Hamaguchi vs. Nobukazu Hirai,
Rounds Match: Koki Kitahara vs. Arashi, Great Sasuke vs. Yuji Yasuraoka
Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo vs. Ashura Hara & Super Strong Machine & Yamato
6/30/94 Sendai
Nobukazu Hirai vs. Yuji Yasuraoka, 1st RD Gedo & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado vs. Hideo Takayama & Hiroshi Itakura & Ichiro Yaguchi,
1st RD: Arashi & Ashura Hara & Super Strong Machine vs. Brett Como & Dos Caras & Lion Heart
1st RD Masao Orihara & Shiryu & Great Sasuke vs. Koji Ishinriki & Masanobu Kurisu & Takashi Ishikawa
1st RD Animal Hamaguchi & Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara vs. Kendo Nagasaki & Kishin Kawabata & Ryo Miyake
Semifinal Gedo & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado vs. Brett Como & Dos Caras & Lion Heart
Semifinal Animal Hamaguchi & Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara vs. Masao Orihara & Shiryu & Great Sasuke
3rd Palce Match: Masao Orihhara & Shiryu & Great Sasuke vs. Brett Como & LionHeart & Dos Caras
6 Man Tag Tournament Final: Gedo & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado vs. Animal Hamaguchi & Genichiro Tenryu & Koki KItahara
7/17/94 Tokyo
Masanobu Kurisu vs. Yuji Yasuraoka
1st RD: Ashura Hara & Earthquake John Tenta & Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo
1st RD: Koki Kitahara & Takashi Ishikawa & Koji Ishinriki vs. Koji Kitao & Akio Kobayashi & Masaaki Mochizuki
1st RD: Kendo Nagasaki & Masashi Aoyagi & Arashi vs. Animal Hamaguchi & Nobukazu Hirai & Shoichi Funaki
1st RD: Warlord & Vampiro & Lion Heart Chris Jericho vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Atsushi Onita & Crusher Bam Bam Bigalow
Semifinal: Koki Kitahara & Takashi Ishikawa & Koji Ishinriki vs. Ashura Hara & Earthquake John Tenta & Jinsei Shinzaki
Semifinal: Genichiro Tenryu & Atsushi Onita & Crusher Bam Bam Bigalow vs. Kendo Nagasaki & Masashi Aoyagi & Arashi
Disc 8
UWA World Middleweight Title: Ultimo Dragon vs. Great Sasuke
Finals Genichiro Tenryu & Atsushi Onita & Crusher Bam Bam Bigalow vs. Ashura Hara & Earthquake John Tenta & Jinsei Shinzaki
8/26/94 Yokohama
Ultimo Dragon vs. Yuji Yasuraoka, Koki Kitahara & Prince Iaukea vs. Arashi & Yamato, Animal Hamiguchi vs. Taguchi, Masao Orihara vs. Hideo Takayama, Masanobu Kurisu vs. Toyonari Fujita, Hiroshi Itakura vs. Nobukazu Hirai
Aka Oni & Kendo Nagasaki vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa
WAR 6-Man Tag Title: Gedo & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado vs.Bob Backlund & Scott Putski & Warlord
9/1/94 Nagano
Aka Oni vs. Masanobu Kurisu, Koki Kitahara vs. Nobukazu Hirai, Takashi Ishikawa vs. Yamato, Ultimo Dragon vs. Masao Orihara,
Animal Hamaguchi & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Arashi Kendo Nagasaki
WAR 6-Man Tag Title: Bob Backlund & Scott Putski & Warlord vs. Gedo & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado
Disc 9
9/29/94 Tokyo Hair vs. Hair: Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Genichiro Tenryu
10/3/94 Nagasaki
Arashi vs. Nobukazu Hirai, Vampiro Casanova vs. Top Gun,
Koki Kitahara vs. Masao Orihara, Kendo Nagasaki vs. Dick Murdoch, Ultimo Dragon vs. Dos Caras
Gedo & Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Animal Hamiguchi & Bob Backlund
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ashura Hara
10/11/94 Sapporo
Masanobu Kurisu vs. Nobukazu Hirai, Ultimo Dragon & Ultimo Dragoncito vs. Pierroth Jr & Pierrothito, Dick Murdoch vs. Masao Orihara, Koji Kitao vs. Koki Kitahara
WAR 6-Man Tag Title: Gedo & Jado & Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Vampiro & Dos Caras & Bob Backlund
Handicap Match: Genichiro Teneryu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Kim Duk & Kendo Nagasaki & Arashi & Hiroshi Itakura
10/29/94 Tokyo
Ultimo Dragon vs. Masanobu Kurisu, Koki Kitahara vs. Gedo, Kendo Nagasaki & Hiroshi Itakura vs. Animal Hamaguchi & Masao Orihara
Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Gedo & Hiromichi Fuyuki
Ashura Hara Royale Rumble
11/8/94 Tokyo
Masanobu Kurisu vs. Yuji Yasuraoka, Hiroshi Itakura vs. Nobukazu Hirai, Masao Orihara vs. Masaaki Mochizuki, NWA World Middleweight & UWA World Middleweight Title: Ultimo Dragon vs. Lion Heart, Aka Oni & Kendo Nagasaki vs. Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson
WAR 6-Man Tag Title: Gedo & Jado & Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Koki Kitahara & Animal Hamaguchi & Genichiro Tenryu
12/4/94 Tokyo
Masanobu Kurisu vs. Yuji Yasuraoka, Ultimo Dragon & Ultimo Dragoncito vs. Morgan Jr & Pirata Morgan, John Kronus & Perry Saturn vs. Masao Orihara & Nobukazu Hirai
Kendo Nagasaki vs. Osamu Tachihikari, Animal Hamaguchi & Ryuma Go vs. Aka Oni & Ao Oni, Koki Kitahara vs Vampiro, Crusher Bam Bam Bigalow vs. Koki Kitahara, Crusher Bam Bam Bigalow vs. Vampiro Casanova
WAR 6-Man Tag Title: Gedo & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado vs. Akitoshi Saito & Kengo Kimura & Tatsutoshi Goto
Koji Kitao vs. Genichiro Tenryu
Osaka Singles: Ultimate Dragon vs. Hector Garza 7:13
Warlord vs. Osamu Tachihikari 5:36
Ryuma Go vs. Hiroshi Itakura 13:27
Dos Caras vs. Yuji Yasuraoka 11:02
Animal Hamaguchi vs. Masanobu Kurisu 12:46
Cage: John Kronus & Perry Saturn vs. Kim Duk & Lionheart 15:12
Cage: Koki Kitahara & Nobukazu Hirai & Ultimo Dragon vs. Gedo & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado 29:48
*Note several matches are heavily edited
International Junior Championship Tournament Round 1
Gedo vs. Yuji Yasuraoka
Negro Casas vs. 1-2-3 Kid
Masao Orihara vs. Lion Heart (Jericho)
Ultimo Dragon vs. Ultimate Dragon (Brett Como). Como does his shooting star press off the top rope to the floor! Perhaps the most awesome and insane spot I've ever seen.
Round 2
1-2-3 Kid vs. Gedo
Lion Heart vs. Ultimo
Osamu Tachihikari & Hiroshi Itakura & Missing Link vs. Ryuma Go & Nobukazu Hirai & Masanobu Kurisu
Arashi vs. Jado
Koki Kitahara vs. Death Mask (Bradshaw)
Junior Championship Final (winner becomes first International
Junior Champion)
Lion Heart vs. Gedo
Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Michiyoshi Ohara
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Yokozuna
Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Masahiro Chono
Yone Genjin & Missing Link vs. Wellington Wilkins Jr. & Naohiro Hoshikawa
Ultimo Dragon & Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Masao Orihara & Ultimate Dragon
Osamu Tachihikari vs. Kim Duk
Hiroshi Itakura & Masanobu Kurisu vs. Death Mask & Isao Takagi
Nobukazu Hirai & Koji Kanemoto vs. Gedo & Liondo
Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Koki Kitahara
Genichiro Tenryu & Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Tatsutoshi Goto & Michiyoshi Ohara
Highlights of matches from 6/4/95 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Shiro Koshinaki & Akitoshi Saito vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Nobutaka Araya, Lion Heart winning the International Junior Heavykyu Senshuken from Gedo, Genichiro Tenryu & Arashi vs. Koji Kitao & Big Titan
Osamu Tachikiari & Hiroshi Itakura & Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Masayoshi Motegi & Kamikaze & Fukumentaro. 3:55 shown.
Nobutaka Araya vs. Nobukazu Hirai. 3:47 shown.
BATTLE OF KT: Koki Kitahara vs. Arashi. 4:17 shown.
International Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Lion Heart vs. Ultimo Dragon. Really a tremendous performance by Dragon because he got a "match of the year" out of a guy that was sloppy and wasn't smooth. Dragon has had matches that were better worked because Jericho wasn't on the level, but what made this special is they did one cool spot after another. The crowd was really reacting to the moves, so the match was dramatic even though there wasn't any great build or selling to make the moves meaningful. This is the kind of match you can show anyone because they don't need to know any background and will almost surely be impressed by the tremendous display of athleticism. Read Review. ****1/4
Eliminators & Hector Garza vs. Mil Mascaras & Bob Backlund & Hector Garza. The legends totally dominated, doing all their famous moves. 5:10 shown.
Jado & Gedo vs. Tarzan Goto & Mr. Gannosuke. Everyone worked hard. Good heated action with a real sense of desperation. Gedo bled. ***1/4
BATTLE OF I-SHI-N: Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Michiyoshi Ohara. Dull match with a bunch of kicking and punching. *1/4
Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Shiro Koshinaka. Koshinaka did his best, but Fuyuki is still Fuyuki. Shiro bled. **1/4
REVENGE 3 minutes 10 rounds: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Koji Kitao. A big nothing. Fuyuki broke a bottle over Tenryu's head, and Tenryu put it over huge. The problem was that Kitao is god-awful and Tenryu couldn't find a way to hide that. DUD
Ultimo Dragon vs. Lionheart 18:09
El Canek vs. Nobukazu Hirai 11:11
Arashi & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Dr. Luther & Typhoon 16:48. No finish
9/29/95 Chiba Koen Taiikukan: Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Shiro Koshinaka
10/5/95 Omiya Skate Center: Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Koji Kitao
10/29/95 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Genichiro Tenryu
SUPER HEAVY-WAR Ikkaisen
Arashi & Osamu Tachihikari vs. Nobutaka Araya & Nobukazu Hirai. Real indy looking. 5:14 shown.
Jado & Gedo vs. Koki Kitahara & Masaaki Mochizuki. Kitahara & Mochizuki's stiff kicks against Jado & Gedo's heel tactics. Mochizuki was impressive here, but Jado & Gedo dragged it down. **1/2
Typhoon & The Great Shinja vs. Koji Kitao & El Gigante. I didn't think it was possible to find guys so awful that Kitao could be the best of the bunch in a tag match. -**
Genichiro Tenryu & Ultimo Dragon vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Shinobu Kandori. Kandori & Dragon were taken seriously here. Aside from Kandori no selling Dragon's reverse low blow to break out of a waistlock, it was like there were four guys in the ring. ***
SUPER HEAVY-WAR Junkessho
Jado & Gedo vs. Nobutaka Araya & Nobukazu Hirai. Match was adequate, but I was suprised at how dominant Jado & Gedo were. **
Genichiro Tenryu & Ultimo Dragon vs. Typhoon & The Great Shinja. Typhoon & Shinja were crap and Tenryu didn't even try. *
Tokubetsu Jiai (special match): Lion Heart vs. Lance Storm. Lion gave one of his best performances in carrying Storm to one of his best matches. The near falls were really dramatic because Lion would do one of his best moves after he said he was ending it, but Storm would kick out at the last fraction of a second. ***1/2
SUPER HEAVY-WAR Kesshosen: Genichiro Tenryu & Ultimo Dragon vs. Jado & Gedo. What they did was good, but it was just too short. At least Tenryu finally showed up. **
Tournament 1st Round
Damien (Mexico) vs. Gran Naniwa (Michinoku Pro)
Shinjiro Otani (NJ) vs. Masaaki Mochizuki (Bukoh Dojo)
Ultimo Dragon (WAR) vs. Shoichi Funaki (PWFG)
Gedo (WAR Fuyuki-gun) vs. Masayoshi Motegi (Wrestle Yume Factory)
El Samurai (NJ) vs. Dos Caras (Mexico)
Lion Heart (Jericho, WAR Fuyuki-gun) vs. Hanzo Nakajima (Michinoku Pro)
Tournament 2nd Round
Jushin Thunder Liger (NJ) vs. Gran Naniwa
Wild Pegasus (NJ) vs. Lion Heart
Shinjiro Otani vs. Ultimo Dragon
Gedo vs. Dos Caras
Tournament Semifinal
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Ultimo Dragon
Wild Pegasus vs. Gedo
Non Tournament
Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Psicosis
Tournament Final
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Gedo
Mil Mascaras
9/12/93 Makuhari Messe Event Hall: Mil Mascaras & Ultimo Dragon vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai
10/1/93 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center: Mil Mascaras vs. Ultimo Dragon
10/11/93 Fukui City Gym: Mil Mascaras & Ultimo Dragon vs. The Earthquake John Tenta & Stan Lane
12/15/93 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Mil Mascaras vs. Gran Marcus Jr.
1/5/94 Osaka Prefectural Gym: Mil Mascaras vs. Pierroth Jr.
4/27/94 Komazawa Olympic Park Gym: Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras vs. Ishinriki & Lion Heart
7/7/95 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Mil Mascaras & Bob Buckland & Jimmy Snuka vs. Eliminators & Hector Garza
Dos Caras
10/3/94 Nagasaki Prefectural Gym: Dos Caras vs. Ultimo Dragon
10/11/94 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center: Dos Caras & Bob Buckland & Vampiro Casanova vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo
2/6/95 Korakuen Hall: Dos Caras & Ultimate Dragon vs. Ultimo Dragon & Masanobu Kurisu
12/13/95 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Dos Caras vs. El Samurai
12/13/95 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Dos Caras vs. Gedo
Long interview on time spent in North America
9/16/78 San Francisco: Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Buddy Rose & Ed Wiskoski (Col. DeBeers)
7/28/95 Korakuen Hall: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo
8/27/95 Korakuen Hall: Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara & Osamu Tachihikari & Nobukazu Hirai vs. Tarzan Goto & Big Titan & Dr. Luther & Mr. Gannosuke
11/21/95 Korakuen Hall: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shinichi Nakano
1/23/96 Korakuen Hall: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shinichi Nakano
Battle Ranger vs Osamu Tachihikari (JIP)
Lion Heart & Damian 666 vs Ultimo Dragon & Yuji Yasuruoka. Digest
Big Titan vs Nobutaka Araya. Digest
Koki Kitahara & Arashi vs Shinichi Nakano & Masayoshi Motegi
Genichiro Tenryu vs Mr. Pogo
Rey Misterio Jr. vs Psicosis 7:44. A truly spectacular non-stop flying frenzy. It was awfully short, but one hell of an athletic display as both men were perpetual motion, with Rey doing flying that was way ahead of his time. This was some really fluid lucha with everything hitting, and quickness and fluidity that was often as impressive as the flying offense that few others were usings. There was no lead in to the action, but they did counter each other very well and sell the moves, so once you were in the midst of things it actually didn't feel ridiculously short. ***1/2
Masahiro Chono & Hiro Saito & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo
Battle Ranger vs. Takashi Okamura
WAR vs. Wrestle Yume Factory Vol. 1: Osamu Tachihikari vs. Masayoshi Motegi
WAR vs. Wrestle Yume Factory Vol. 2: Nobutaku Araya vs. Hirofumi Miura
WAR vs. Wrestle Yume Factory Vol. 3: Arashi vs. Kamikaze
WAR vs. Wrestle Yume Factory Vol. 4: Koki Kitahara vs. Shinichi Nakano
Genchiro Tenryu vs. Tatsuo Nakano
International Junior Heavyweight Tag Title Match: Lance Storm & Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Ultimo Dragon & Masaaki Mochizuki
Golden Cups vs. W.A.R Fuyuki-gun, WAR World 6 Man Tag Title Match: Yoshihiro Takayama & Yoji Anjo & Kenichi Yamamoto vs. Kodo Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo
WELCOME W.A.R! OPENING MATCH: Nobukazu Hirai & Ultimo Dragon vs. Big Tido & Liondo 1:25 of 15:19. After classic anniversary show matches with The Great Sasuke & Chris Jericho, the best they could do for Dragon was the kind of tag match that could be meaningless on any house show? Dragon & Jericho did a nice finishing sequence where whoever initiated came out on the wrong end, but unfortunately that was about all that made the tape.
SUPER BATTLE 6 MEN ’96 1st Round:
Kazuo Yamazaki & Takashi Iizuka & Osamu Kido vs. Kodo Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo 11:53. All the heat was on Fuyuki vs. Yamazaki, with Yamazaki finding ways to make the match intriguing without having Fuyuki destroy it by playing a large role in the actual wrestling. Yamazaki always knows what has to be done, and goes about business putting the company over himself, even when it’s not his company. He had the shooter team, so he immediately set a serious and intense tone against Fuyuki, who would render Yamazaki’s team impotent by taking the match in the direction of clowning if given the opportunity. Fuyuki turned it into a brawl when he had the chance, resulting in Yamazaki taking it to him on the outside. Fuyuki, who wasn’t the legal man, broke up Yamazaki’s figure 4 when the ref was distracted. Gedo’s “smarts” were displayed when Iizuka still had an arm bar on the legal man Jado while Kido had his wakigatame on Fuyuki, who had come in to break up the triple submission on Jado. Gedo, of course, elbow drops Kido, leaving Jado to find his way to the ropes. Jado worked most of the way with Gedo making the hot tag and Yamazaki and Iizuka carrying them to good solid action. Finish was unfortunately early and abrupt. Yamazaki attacked Fuyuki after the match to build up the rivalry and get some heat back. **1/2
Riki Choshu & Satoshi Kojima & Osamu Nishimura vs. Yoji Anjo & Yoshihiro Takayama & 200% Machine 10:23. Dull match. Kojima showed fired, getting the crowd into the match, but outside of Choshu, who gets pops simply for being Choshu, their reactions were fairly minimal the rest of the time. The UWF-I team’s mix of shoot style and heel tactics is contradictory to the point of not really meshing. 200% gave his famed effort from the apron, so there was a heavy dose of Takayama, which in the ’90’s was never a good thing. Nishimura should have been good, but the size difference between he and Takayama made everything seem more awkward than typical Takayama. *1/2
Koji Kitao & Masaaki Mochizuki & Koki Kitahara vs. John Tenta & Arashi & Osamu Tachihikari 11:46. A showcase for Tenta, featuring slow and incompetent performances by several big men. Tenta only wanted to shark attack fellow sumo slug Kitao, which makes sense until you see them actually try to work with each other. Compared to loose and sloppy Kitao, who either misses his spot or makes it look wimpy, Tenta almost seems a good wrestler. Mochizuki & Kitahara had their moments, but as Tenta’s team lacks a decent worker even their best efforts rarely raised it to a level above passable. There were a few decent little man/big man spots such as Mochizuki throwing his knees until Arashi tossed him with a front suplex, but I’m really reaching for positives. *
Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaku Araya & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Nobuhiko Takada & Masahito Kakihara & Naoki Sano 16:40. Often the best way to sell an interpromotional singles match is to have a tag match that spikes the public’s pre-existing expectation. It’s hard to imagine less than a good match with this talent, but in WAR, even a match that will obviously make or break a heavyweight tournament is no given. Luckily, these guys were not only motivated but seemed to really enjoy working with one another, putting so much effort into putting over the opposite. The match could easily have been all about Tenryu vs. Takada, but everyone contributed with none of the veterans pulling rank. Takada did the old wise guy trick, offering Tenryu a handshake then pulling his hand away as Tenryu tried to grab it, prompting Araya to quickly decide not to give Tenryu the same opportunity with him. Though the worst worker in the match, Araya held his own here. Kakihara tried to kick and run from him early, but Araya pursued until he tackled him and got in some mount punches. Spunky Kakihara always stands out due to putting so much attitude and energy into everything. The fans went crazy when Fujinami caught Takada’s leg and Dragon screwed him, as it was shades of Takada vs. Muto. Tenryu vs. Takada heated up when Takada saved Sano from Tenryu’s half crab by blasting his prone nemesis with a kick. When Takada made a hot tag and was ready to put Araya away, Tenryu returned the favor breaking up Takada’s arm bar with an elbow drop and stomps. The ending seemed to come a bit soon, but the key was Sano holding Tenryu’s leg so he couldn’t get in to make the save. ***1/2
International Junior Heavyweight Tag Title Match: Yuji Yasuraoka & Lance Storm vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai 15:45. The WAR team is good, but not on the level with the opposition Liger & Samurai work with every night in New Japan, and thus have better chemistry with. The bigger problem is the WAR team wasn’t treated as if they were on the level. I thought they might get dominated then pull off a flash pin, but they got no such hope. It turned into something of a spectacular match after a slow start. Yasuraoka & Storm don’t have great moves, but have enough athleticism to make some more common junior moves look good. For instance, Yasuraoka has a really high plancha, partially because he has the most vertical body press around. Good action, but I expected a lot more. ***
SUPER BATTLE 6 MEN ’96 Semifinals:
Kodo Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo vs. Riki Choshu & Satoshi Kojima & Osamu Nishimura 11:23. Heated interpromotional match. I expected the Choshu vs. Fuyuki rivalry to be played up more, but was content to get some good wrestling from the Jado & Gedo vs. Kojima & Nishimura combos. Gedo was more prominent in this one, as he was stranded in the ring until Fuyuki lariated Kojima to give him time to tag Jado. Kojima is a good partner for Choshu, as in addition to being a good worker who can carry the load, he shows a lot of attitude. Well-worked if a bit short due to the tournament format. **1/2
Nobuhiko Takada & Masahito Kakihara & Naoki Sano vs. John Tenta & Arashi & Osamu Tachihikari 11:22. All about Takada vs. Tenta. Their interplay was good, but the lesser names had no real role or heat on them, so it was even less of a match than it sounds on paper. Takada didn’t give Arashi much respect, laughing him off as he blasted away with kicks and locked his arm bar, forcing Tenta to save. Takada came in and kicked Tachihikari hoping to break his clasp so Sano could lock his arm bar, challenging a worked up Tenta to follow him to the floor. Tenta preferred to wait and call Takada out in the ring, but it was Takada who got the big pop for body slamming him. *1/2
WWA World Welterweight Title: Juventud Guerrera vs. Rey Misterio Jr. 8:36. 1996 was the big year for these two, as they took their match around the world. Before Rey became Misteroid and Juvi discovered The Juice, no one could touch their match for spectacular athleticism choreographed with the utmost complexity. It’s not simply doing great flying moves, but doing them in sequence with perfect timing and remarkable speed. It was as if Shodai Tiger Mask got to wrestle himself with another move set. A great sprint, but their normal match that’s at least twice as long is obviously far more developed. Today they did wall to wall high spots, similar to Misterio’s WAR introduction against Psicosis at the 12/13/95 J CUP. It would take far less time to denote the moves where both remained on their feet, but for me the most impressive are Rey’s Frankensteiner off the apron because he takes off from the top rope and hooks his opponent midway down and Rey’s swandive style Frankensteiner off the top because he has to turn 180 degrees after slinging himself onto the top rope to pull off the Frankensteiner. A beautiful spotfest. ****
SUPER BATTLE 6 MEN ’96 Final: Nobuhiko Takada & Masahito Kakihara & Naoki Sano vs. Kodo Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo 12:35. I realize this isn’t the greatest matchup stylistically, but I expected more from the final. It wasn’t in any way bad, on the contrary quite competent, it was simply rather nondescript. Sano sold early with Fuyuki turning the match into a brawl, taking it to the floor where he hit Sano with a title belt. Gedo was once again the whipping boy for his team. The match picked up with the Dos getting Takada in trouble, connecting with their double vertical suplex and diving body press combo to set up Fuyuki putting Takada in the figure 4 ala Keiji Muto. But there was never any real drama, with Takada easily withstanding what was hardly the opposition’s best offensive before dispatching of their lowest rated wrestler Gedo. **1/4
SUPER BATTLE 6 MEN ’96 1st Round:
Kazuo Yamazaki & Takashi Iizuka & Osamu Kido vs. Kodo Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo 11:53
Riki Choshu & Satoshi Kojima & Osamu Nishimura vs. Yoji Anjo & Yoshihiro Takayama & 200% Machine 10:23
Koji Kitao & Masaaki Mochizuki & Koki Kitahara vs. John Tenta & Arashi & Osamu Tachihikari 11:46
Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaku Araya & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Nobuhiko Takada & Masahito Kakihara & Naoki Sano 16:40
SUPER BATTLE 6 MEN ’96 Semifinals:
Kodo Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo vs. Riki Choshu & Satoshi Kojima & Osamu Nishimura 11:23
Nobuhiko Takada & Masahito Kakihara & Naoki Sano vs. John Tenta & Arashi & Osamu Tachihikari 11:22
WWA World Welterweight Title: Juventud Guerrera vs. Rey Misterio Jr. 8:3
SUPER BATTLE 6 MEN ’96 Final: Nobuhiko Takada & Masahito Kakihara & Naoki Sano vs. Kodo Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo 12:35
Naoki Sano & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Nobukazu Hirai & Osamu Tachihikari
Nobutaka Araya vs. Michiyoshi Ohara
John Tenta vs. Arashi
J DREAMER'S SPECIAL MATCH: Ultimo Dragon & Yuji Yasuraoka & Lance Storm & Rey Misterio Jr. (AAA) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger (NJ) & Gedo (WAR Fuyuki-gun) & Lion Do (Chris Jericho-WAR Fuyuki-gun) & Juventud Guerrera (AAA). Dream match just for putting Dragon, Rey, Liger & Juventud in the same ring together. Rey & Juventud really put on a show spot wise, but overall Juventud was the better of the two. Liger was so in control every time he stepped in the ring, and he was really playing to the crowd, while Rey seemed a little unsure of himself. At one point Jericho stands up on the top turnbuckle and press slams Rey into the ring. The person who decided they needed to snip 7 minutes out of this match and make it seem a little disjointed should be strapped in a chair and forced to watch Tenta matches for 24 hours straight. ****1/4
Jado vs. Yoshihiro Takayama
Riki Choshu & Satoshi Kojima vs. Kodo Fuyuki & Big Tai Do (Big Titan)
Nobuhiko Takada & Hiromitsu Kanehara vs. Tatsumi Fujinami& Shiro Koshinaka
Masahito Kakihara vs. Tatsumi Kitahara
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Yoji Anjo
Note: undercard matches edited
Takashi Okamura vs. Jun Kikuchi
WAR vs. Yume Factory Showdown: Osamu Tachihikari vs. Masakazu Fukuda
Masaaki Mochizuki & Arashi vs. Tatsumi Kitahara & Yuji Yasuraoka
WWA Welterweight Title Match: Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Psicosis 5:21 of 13:31. Misterio & Psicosis were showing off as much as humanly possible, knowing they were capable of something so spectacular few would care the match was merely a contrived exhibition of spots. I obviously can't account for what was skipped, but editing down a match that was so aerial oriented to begin with made it appear Rey didn't do anything where he didn't turn at least 180 degrees in the air. Psicosis lacks his body control, but was pretty wild as well. There were some holes in the setup and execution, but the flying in the Rey vs. Psicosis or especially Juventud matches was pretty much beyond what anyone else was doing at this time.
Nobutaka Araya & Nobukazu Hirai vs. Gedo & Jado
J-Crown Junior Heavyweight 8 Title Match: The Great Sasuke vs. Ultimo Dragon 13:43. They tried to build the match from the ground up, being solid early and just throwing in some athleticism for teasing or comedy. The work was of the highest caliber. They were absolutely on the same page the entire match, so the timing was excellent and the work was fluid rather than contrived. The early portion would have been great for a 20+ minute match, but they pretty much skipped the body because they ran out of time. Once they found the opening for one or two wild spots, they went right from the matwork into the finishing sequence. The fans were really into the final minutes, but I couldn't believe it was so short. I feel as though this could have been their best match if they saw it through, which makes it more of a letdown. ***3/4
WAR World 6 Man Tag Title Match: Nobuhiko Takada & Naoki Sano & Masahito Kakihara vs. Yoji Anjo & Bam Bam Bigelow & Kodo Fuyuki
Genichiro Tenryu vs. The Great Muta
Jun Kikuchi vs. Gokauku Umibozu
Chodensenshi Battle Ranger vs. Masayoshi Motegi
Masaaki Mochizuki & Takashi Okamura vs. Kamikaze & Masakazu Fukuda
Doink vs. Onryo
Arashi & Osamu Tachihikari vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Nobukazu Hirai
THE SPECIAL MATCH: Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs. Kazuo Yamazaki & Takashi Iizuka
International Junior Tag Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai vs. Yuji Yasuraoka & Lance Storm
Takashi Ishikawa & Benkei Daikokubo vs. Jun Kikuchi & Tomohiro Ishii 2:52
Kamikaze & Masakazu Fukuda vs. Takashi Okumura & Yoshikazu Taru 5:43
Doink & Chodensenshi Battle Ranger vs. Keisuke Yamada & Keizu Matsuda 10:54
Ryuma Go vs. Samurai MAX 5:44
Tatsuo Nakano vs. Satoshi Yoneyama 5:15
Arashi & Osamu Tachihikari vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Nobukazu Hirai 8:40
Koki Kitahara & Nobutaku Araya vs. Kazuo Yamazaki & Takashi Iizuka 10:49
International Junior Heavykyu Tag Senshukenjiai: Yuji Yasuraoka & Lance Storm vs. Shodai Tiger Mask & Masaaki Mochizuki 11:03
J-Crown: Ultimo Dragon vs. Rey Misterio, Jr. 10:16 ****
Koji Kitao vs. John Tenta 7:20
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Nobuhiko Takada 19:27. Takada cared a few times in 1996 and was capable of major performances, but was used to big arenas and paychecks and with UWF-I on its last leg was simply to the point where he wanted to get paid. He'd give you what you paid for when the opponent could pull it out of him, but he was mostly concerned with getting paid, and thus this was the swansong of Takada the pro wrestling legend. Even usefulness and respectability were out the window once he gave up his PRIDE and transitioned to embarrassing and sham "MMA" fights. The fans believed in him here, and even though this wasn't a "pro wrestling shoot" that was really the dynamic. It always felt like Takada's fight even though it wasn't strictly U-style, so it was a much different fight for Tenryu because you really felt he was up against it. The deadly shooter had entered his house, and it was up to him to keep coming up with something to just hang with him. Takada's cool commanding demeanor is so perfect for this kind of match. Normally he'd be the underdog because Tenryu is the legend of the previous generation, but there was such intensity and impact on Takada's kicks that you felt bad for Tenryu and wondered what he could do to survive. The fans were going nuts for everything Takada did, but especially his brutal strikes, and you just felt Tenryu was overmatched as his gu punches pailed in comparison and his sumo tackle isn't exactly a KO blow. Tenryu did better with no body control elbows on the ground and got his chops going, but it was the belief in Takada's offense, aided by the crisp execution and the fact that Tenryu was allowing Takada to totally go to town on him to the point this was stiffer than almost anything he did in UWF that was making the fight. Tenryu didn't have much sustained offense, but would find an opening to hit a signature move now and then to stay in the match and give his home promotion fans hope. It was all very riveting, but you never felt that Tenryu should win except that he had to because it was his league and he'd already lost to Takada in Takada's league. Even disregarding who appeared to be the better fighter, it was hard to buy the finish, but on the other hand it might have been more ridiculous if Tenryu really laid Takada out, so it kind of was what it was. In any case, this was a high point of WAR and a fitting end to Tenryu's serious career. ****
Tatsuo Nakano vs. Satoshi Yoneyama 5:15
Arashi & Osamu Tachihikari vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Nobukazu Hirai 8:40
Koki Kitahara & Nobutaku Araya vs. Kazuo Yamazaki & Takashi Iizuka 10:49
International Junior Heavykyu Tag Senshukenjiai: Yuji Yasuraoka & Lance Storm vs. Shodai Tiger Mask & Masaaki Mochizuki 11:03
J-Crown: Ultimo Dragon vs. Rey Misterio, Jr. 10:16 ****
Koji Kitao vs. John Tenta 7:20
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Nobuhiko Takada 19:27 ****
Ultimo Dragon
7/15/92 Korakuen Hall: Ultimo Dragon vs. La Fiera
9/15/92 Yokohama Arena: Ultimo Dragon vs. Negro Casas
10/21/92 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center: Ultimo Dragon vs. Owen Hart
12/15/93 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Ultimo Dragon vs. Atlantis
7/7/95 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Ultimo Dragon vs. Lion Heart
12/13/95 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Ultimo Dragon vs. Shoichi Funaki
12/13/95 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Ultimo Dragon vs. Shinjiro Otani
12/13/95 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Ultimo Dragon vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
10/11/96 Osaka Prefectural Gym: Ultimo Dragon vs. The Great Sasuke
Rey Mysterio Jr.
12/13/95 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psicosis
4/19/96 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psicosis
7/20/96 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera Rey Mysterio Jr.
7/21/96 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Ultimo Dragon & Yuji Yasuraoka & Lance Storm & Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Gedo & Lion Do (Chris Jericho) & Juventud Guerrera
10/11/96 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan, WWA Welterweight Title Match: Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Psicosis
12/13/96 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan, J-Crown: Ultimo Dragon vs. Rey Misterio Jr.
Ryo Miyake vs. Tomohiro Ishii 8:11
Battle Ranger vs. Onryo 11:42
Kamikaze vs. Jun Kikuchi 9:57
Michiko Nagashima & Sayuri Okino vs. Michiko Omukai & Miho Watabe 14:30
Osamu Tachihikari vs. Masakazu Fukuda 9:00
Nobutaka Araya vs. Masaaki Mochizuki 18:56
Arashi & Shinichi Nakano vs. Lance Storm & Yuji Yasuraoka 17:07
Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara & Tatsuo Nakano vs. Hiroshi Hatanaka & Koji Kitao & Nobukazu Hirai 15:16
Battle Ranger vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Osamu Tachihikari vs. Yoshikazu Taru (Bukoh Dojo)
Masaaki Mochizuki & Takashi Okamura (Wrestle Yume Factory) vs. Umibos Gokuaku & Shinigami (Wrestle Yume Factory)
Super Junior Bout: Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Masashi Aoyagi
Nobutaka Araya & Lance Storm vs. Koji Kitao & Nobukazu Hirai
Super Match in War Cage (cage death match): Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara & Jun Kikuchi vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Tarzan Goto & Ryo Miyake
*Note: only the main event is shown in its entirety
Battle Ranger vs. Osamu Tachihikari
Nobukazu Hirai & Takashi Okamura vs. Arashi & Tomohiro Ishii
Lance Storm vs. Masaaki Mochizuki
Koji Kitao & Abdullah the Butcher vs. Koki Kitahara & Atsushi Kikuchi. Abdullah gives an interview before and after the match. It's funny how he "never talks," yet he gives an interview before the match about every time he's on a WAR tape.
International Junior Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Yuji Yasuraoka. Yasuraoka wins title
Super Handicap Match: Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya & Masatomo Takei (company president, Tenryu's brother in law) vs. Tarzan Goto & Ryo Miyake.
Tadahiro Ishii & Shigeo Okumura & Shoichi Ichinomiya vs. Masaaki Mochizuki & Takashi Okamura & Yoshikazu Taru (Buko Dojo)
Battle Arrival: Chodensenshi Battle Ranger Z vs. Ryo Miyake (Shin FMW)
W.A.R. vs Ishikawa: Takashi Ishikawa & Kishin Kawabata vs. Osamu Tachihikari & Jun Kikuchi
Revolution Spirits: Arashi & Shinichi Nakano vs. Joel Deaton & Tatsuo Nakano
Abdullah The Butcher vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara
International Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Masao Orihara (Mebius)
World 6 Man Tag Title Decision Match: Koki Kitahara & Nobutaka Araya & Lance Storm vs. Koji Kitao & Nobukazu Hirai & Tommy Dreamer (ECW). Kitahara's team wins titles.
TENRYU Triple Memorial Special Match: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Tarzan Goto
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hidetomo Egawa (Mebius)
Shoichi Ichinomiya vs. Takashi Okamura (Bukoh Dojo)
Jun Kikuchi vs. Yoshikazu Taru
Arashi & Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Masao Orihara (Mebius)
Koki Kitahara & Osamu Tachihikari vs. Koji Kitao & Masaaki Mochizuki (Bukoh Dojo)
Nobutaka Araya vs. Nobukazu Hirai
Sumo Wrestler Spirit: Osamu Tachihikari vs. Choichi Ichinomiya
AJW Tag Match: Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi vs. Manami Toyota & Takako Inoue
International Jr. Tag Titles League Bout: Lance Storm & Battle Ranger vs. Masakazu Fukuda & Hiroyoshi Kotsubo (Wrestle Yume Factory)
International Jr. Tag Titles League Bout: Yuji Yasuraoka & Tadahiro Ishii vs. Masao Orihara & Hidetomo Egawa (Mebius team)
Abdullah The Butcher (USA) vs. Nobutaka Araya
International Jr. Tag Titles League Final: Yuji Yasuraoka & Tadahiro Ishii vs. Masakazu Fukuda & Hiroyoshi Kotsubo (Wrestle Yume Factory). Fukuda & Kotsubo take titles.
Koki Kitahara & Arashi & Jun Kikuchi vs. Nobukazu Hirai & Masaaki Mochizuki & Yoshikazu Taru
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (PWFG)
11/24/97 Yokohama Bunka Gym J1 Heavyweight Title Tournament First Round: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara 15:47
12/23/97 J1 Heavyweight Title Tournament Semifinal Match: Nobutaka Araya vs. Nobukazu Hirai
12/24/97 Korakuen Hall J1 Heavyweight Title Tournament Semifinal Match: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Koji Kitao 11:35
1/14/98 Korakuen Hall J1 Heavyweight Title Tournament Final Match: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Nobutaka Araya 13:20
Note: most matches are digested
12/24/97 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hidetomo Egawa
Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Masakazu Fukuda
Koki Kitahara & Osamu Tachihikari vs. Arashi & Jun Kikuchi
Nobutaka Araya vs. Nobukazu Hirai
Nippon J1 Senshuken Junkessho: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Koji Kitao
1/14/98 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Yoshikazu Taru
Arashi & Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Koki Kitahara & Masao Orihara
Nippon J1 Senshuken Kesshosen: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Nobutaka Araya
3/10/98 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Arashi & Shoichi Ichinomiya vs. Osamu Tachihikari & Yoshikazu Taru
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Keisuke Yamada
Yuji Yasuraoka & Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Masakazu Fukuda & Hiroyoshi Kotsubo
Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Nobutaka Araya & Jun Kikuchi
Masao Orihara vs. Tomohiro Ishii 12:09
Koki Kitahara vs. Ni Hao 6:05
Ryuma Go vs. Thunder Warrior Alpha 7:42
Genichiro Tenryu & Magnum Tokyo vs. Nobutaka Araya & Sumo Fuji 15:35
Arashi & Osamu Tachihikari vs. Daikokubo Benkei & Ichiro Yaguchi 12:42
Naohiro Hoshikawa & Super Delfin vs. Masaaki Mochizuki & Yuji Yasuraoka 17:39
Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Yuji Yasuraoka 4:31
Street Fight Tornado Death: Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya & Shoji Nakamaki vs. Atsushi Onita & Sambo Asako & Takashi Okamura 12:52
9/15/92 2/3 Falls WWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Ric Flair vs. Genichiro Tenryu
6/17/93: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shinya Hashimoto
9/12/93: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Masahiro Chono
3/2/94: Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto
10/3/94 Ashura Hara Intai LAST 3: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ashura Hara
10/29/94 Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Jado
10/29/94: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ashura Hara
3/26/95: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Yokozuna
4/2/95: Genichiro Tenryu & Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Tatsutoshi Goto & Michiyoshi Ohara
10/11/96: Genichiro Tenryu vs. The Great Muta
12/13/96: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Nobuhiko Takada
6/20/99: Genichiro Tenryu & Magnum TOKYO vs. Nobutaka Araya & Sumo Fuji
Osamu Tachihikari vs. Nobukazu Hirai
Yoshikazu Taru vs. Stalker Ichikawa
Shoji Nakamaki vs. Mitsunobu Kikuzawa
Shinobu Kandori & Keiko Aono vs. Harley Saito & Norio Tateno
Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Tomohiro Ishii
CIMA & Sumo "Dandy" Fuji 2000 & SUWA vs. Dragon Kid & Genki Horiguchi & SAITO
Tatsumi Kitahara vs. Nobutaka Araya
Hayabusa vs. Genichiro Tenryu
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Koji Ishinriki 6:14
Eagle Sawai & Magnum TOKYO vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Rumi Kazama 6:15
Dos Caras & Gran Naniwa vs. Damien & Super Battle Ranger 7:59
Dragon Kid & Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito vs. Kenichiro Arai & Susumu Yokosuka & Yasushi Kanda 14:45
Gedo & Jado vs. GENTARO & Kintaro Kanemura 14:52
WAR International Junior Heavyweight Title: Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Pentagon Black 19:42
Don Fujii & Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara & Masao Orihara vs. Akitoshi Saito & Masashi Aoyagi & Michiyoshi Ohara & Shiro Koshinaka 15:23
Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Kabuki & Haku 7/15/92
Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Hiroshi Hase 2/14/93
Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa 4/2/93
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shinya Hashimoto 6/17/93
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Masa Chono 9/12/93
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Great Muta 10/11/96
Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara 3/2/94
Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara & Nobutaka Araya vs. Tarzan Goto & Koji Kitao & Nobukazu Hirai 3/21/97
Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs. Tarzan Goto & Ryo Miyake & Masatomo Takei 6/6/97
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Tarzan Goto 7/6/97
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Nobuhiko Takada 12/13/96
Ricky Fuyuki & Gedo & Jado vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Higo Hamaguchi & Koki Kitahara 6/30/94
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Ashura Hara 10/3/94
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Nobutaka Araya 1/14/98