NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING VIDEOS 1990-92

NJPW WPW 12/31/89 Moscow Central Lenin Stadium
& NJPW WPW 1/6/90 taped 1/5/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
-1hr 30min. Q=Gd

12/31/89

Riki Choshu vs. Victor Zangiev 6:04

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Wahka Evloev 15:00

Manny Fernandez vs. Salmon Hashmikov 8:20

Bam Bam Bigalow vs. Vladimir Berkovich 9:30

Antonio Inoki & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Masa Saito & Brad Rheigans 11:35

1/5/90

'90 New Year Sensation Tag Tournament First Round Match: Masahiro Chono & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Riki Choshu & Hirokazu Hata 11:16

'90 New Year Sensation Tag Tournament Semifinal: Masahiro Chono & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Kengo Kimura & Osamu Kido 11:36

'90 New Year Sensation Tag Tournament Semifinal: Masa Saito & Black Cat vs. Super Strong Machine & Naoki Sano 7:41

'90 New Year Sensation Tag Tournament Final: Super Strong Machine & Naoki Sano vs. Masahiro Chono & Shiro Koshinaka 11:21

NJPW Handheld 1/6/90
-2hr. Q=Gd-VG

Hirokazu Hata vs. Hiroshi Dairi

Black Cat vs. Tora Katayama

Shiro Koshinaka vs. George Takano

Kuniaki Kobayashi & Osamu Kido vs. Masa Saito & Kantaro Hoshino

Akira Nogami vs. Osamu Matsuda

Hiroshi Hase vs. Takayuki Iizuka

Shinya Hashimoto & Naoki Sano vs. Masa Chono & Jushin Thunder Liger

Riki Choshu & Kengo Kimura & Strong Machine vs. Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto & Norio Honaga

NJPW World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #136 1/14/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Near Perfect

1/25/90 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center

Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Super Strong Machine

Riki Choshu & Hiroshi Hase vs. Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Hiro Saito

Big Van Vader vs. Masahiro Chono

1/31/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan

Hiroshi Hase vs. Masahiro Chono

Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. George Takano & Riki Choshu

NJPW World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #138 2/3/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

2/10/90 Tokyo Dome, AWA Heavyweight Title Match: Masa Saito vs. Larry Zbyszko

1/30/90 Gifu Tenjikan

Tatsutshi Goto & Super Strong Machine vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & George Takano

IWGP Junior Next Challenger Decision League Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Owen Hart

Big Van Vader & Great Kokina & Brad Rheingans vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono & Riki Choshu

NJPW STV 12/30 & 12/31/19 Just Before Retirement! 24 Hours of Jushin Thunder Liger
-24hr. Q=Perfect. 12 DVDs

disc 1

4/24/89 Tokyo Dome: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi

5/25/89 Osaka IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Hase vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

7/13/89 Tokyo IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Naoki Sano

8/10/89 Tokyo IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Naoki Sano

1/31/90 Osaka IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Naoki Sano vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

6/12/90 Fukuoka Martial Arts Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Masashi Aoyagi

8/19/90 Tokyo IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Pegasus Kid

11/1/90 Tokyo IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Pegasus Kid vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

disc 2

4/15/91 Tokyo Top of the Super Junior: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Dave Finlay

4/28/91 Saitama Top of the Super Junior: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Owen Hart

4/30/91 Tokyo IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Top of the Super Junior Final: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Norio Honaga

7/4/91 Fukuoka Mask vs. Mask Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Pegasus Kid

8/9/91 Tokyo IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Akira Nogami

2/8/92 Sapporo IWGP Junior & WCW Light Heavyweight Double Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Norio Honaga

disc 3

4/16/92 Tokyo Top of the Super Junior: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. El Samurai

4/30/92 Tokyo Top of the Super Junior Final: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. El Samurai

6/26/92 Tokyo IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. El Samurai

1/4/93 Tokyo Dome IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Ultimo Dragon vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

8/3/93 Tokyo: Jushin Thunder Liger & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara

1/4/94 Tokyo Dome: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Tiger Mask

2/24/94 Tokyo: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Shinya Hashimoto

disc 4

4/16/94 Tokyo Super J Cup 1st RD: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Hayabusa

4/16/94 Tokyo Super J Cup Semifinal: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Great Sasuke

5/1/94 Fukuoka Exhibition Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Satoru Sayama

6/13/94 Osaka Best of the Super Junior Final: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Super Delfin

9/23/94 Yokohama: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara

10/9/95 Tokyo Dome: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Naoki Sano

1/4/96 Tokyo Dome IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Koji Kanemoto vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

4/29/96 Tokyo Dome IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. The Great Sasuke

disc 5

6/12/96 Osaka Best of the Super Junior Final: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Black Tiger

6/17/96 Tokyo MPW British Commonwealth Junior Title: Dick Togo vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

8/2/96 Tokyo WAR International & British Commonwealth Junior Title, J Crown Tournament 1st RD: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Ultimo Dragon

9/23/96 Yokohama: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Wild Pegasus

1/4/97 Tokyo Dome J Crown Title: Ultimo Dragon vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

5/3/97 Osaka: Jushin Thunder Liger & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Antonio Inoki & Tiger King

7/6/97 Sapporo J Crown Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. El Samurai

11/2/97 Fukuoka: Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger King vs. Koji Kanemoto & Tatsuhito Takaiwa

disc 6

1/4/98 Tokyo Dome: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Riki Choshu

2/7/98 Sapporo IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Shinjiro Otani vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

8/2/98 Tokyo IWGP Junior Tag Title League: Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai vs. Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa

3/17/99 Hiroshima IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Koji Kanemoto 28:43 of 31:38

4/10/99 Tokyo Dome IWGP Junior Tag Title: Dr Wagner Junior & Kendo Kashin vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Great Sasuke

5/25/99 Ishikawa Best of the Super Junior: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Gran Hamada

disc 7

6/4/99 Kagawa Best of the Super Junior Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa

10/11/99 Tokyo Dome IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Kendo Kashin vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

1/4/00 Tokyo Dome IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Koji Kanemoto

2/4/00 Sapporo IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Minoru Tanaka

3/20/00 Hyogo: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Don Frye

4/7/00 Tokyo Dome: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Kensuke Sasaki

8/7/00 Osaka G1 Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Tatsumi Fujinami

8/9/00 Hiroshima G1 Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Tatsutoshi Goto

3/6/01 Tokyo IWGP Junior Tag Title: Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka vs. El Samurai & Jushin Thunder Liger

5/25/01 Fukushima Best of the Super Junior Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Gran Naniwa

disc 8

6/1/01 Kanagawa Best of the Super Junior Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Silver King

6/4/01 Osaka Best of the Super Junior Final: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Minoru Tanaka

8/4/01 Osaka G1 CLimax Block B: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

8/5/01 Osaka G1 Climax Block B: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Keiji Muto

8/6/01 Nagoya G1 Climax Block B: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Masahiro Chono

8/8/01 Sendai G1 Climax Block B: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Satoshi Kojima

10/19/01 Oita IWGP Tag Title: Osamu Nishimura & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Keiji Muto

disc 9

11/16/01 Ishikawa G1 Junior Tag League: Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai vs. Gedo & Jado

11/23/01 Tokyo G1 Junior Tag League: Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai vs. Katsuyori Shibata & Wataru Inoue

12/7/01 Hiroshima G1 Tag League: Jushin Thunder Liger & Osamu Nishimura vs. Giant Silva & Masahiro Chono

5/2/02 Tokyo Dome IWGP Junior Tag Title: Gedo & Jado vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Minoru Tanaka

5/24/02 Tokyo Best of the Super Junior Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Katsuyori Shibata

5/28/02 Sendai Best of the Super Junior Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Koji Kanemoto

disc 10

8/29/02 Tokyo IWGP Junior Tag Title: Jushin Thunder Liger & Minoru Tanaka vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

1/4/04 Tokyo Dome GHC Junior Title: Takashi Sugiura vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

7/19/04 Sapporo IWGP Tag Title: Minoru Suzuki & Yoshihiro Takayama vs & Jushin Thunder Liger & Kensuke Sasaki

5/14/05 Tokyo Dome: Jushin Thunder Liger & Masahiro Chono vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Tatsumi Fujinami

1/4/06 Tokyo Dome: Jushin Thunder Liger & Gedo & Jado vs. BADBOY Hido & Kintaro Kanemura & Masato Tanaka

8/8/06 Yokohama G1 Climax Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

2/17/08 Tokyo IWGP Junior Tag Title: Minoru & Prince Devitt vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA

disc 11

7/21/08 Sapporo IWGP Junior Tag Title: Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA vs. Minoru & Prince Devitt

1/4/09 Tokyo Dome: Jushin Thunder Liger & Takuma Sano vs. Koji Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue

2/15/09 Tokyo IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Tiger Mask vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

4/4/10 Tokyo IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

5/3/10 Fukuoka CMLL World Middleweight Title: Negro Casas vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

5/27/12 Tokyo Best of the Super Junior Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. PAC

6/16/12 Osaka IWGP Junior Tag Title: Taichi & TAKA Michinoku vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask

5/24/13 Tokyo Best of the Super Junior Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Hiromu Tanahashi

9/29/13 Kobe NWA World Heavyweight Title: Rob Conway vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

11/8/14 Osaka NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title: Chase Owens vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

5/22/15 Tokyo Best of the Super Junior Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Yohei Komatsu

disc 12

5/3/16 Fukuoka IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: KUSHIDA vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

5/17/17 Tokyo Best of the Super Junior Block A: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. TAKA Michinoku

5/31/17 Osaka Best of the Super Junior Block A Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Taichi

3/25/18 Long Beach: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Will Ospreay

6/9/18 Osaka: Jushin Thunder Liger & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Cody & Hangman Page & Marty Scrull

3/6/19 Tokyo IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Taiji Ishimori vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

9/22/19 Kobe: Jushin Thunder Liger & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Rocky Romero & Tiger Mask vs. DOUKI & Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Zack Sabre Jr.

10/14/19 Tokyo: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Minoru Suzuki

NJ Tadakai no Wonderland ~Jushin Thunder Liger Hen #3~ 4/23/00
& NJ Tadakai no Wonderland ~Jushin Thunder Liger Hen #4~ 4/30/00
-1hr 50min. Q=TV Master

Wonderland Liger #3

8/10/89 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano 15:38. A totally different match from 7/13/89, much more toward later (peak) Liger. Having shown no particular aptitude for selling since he donned the hood, Liger suddenly shows why he'd soon be known as the king of the junior sellers, doing a beautiful job of putting over the shoulder Kantaro Hoshino & Sano destroyed in a tag match two days earlier. Liger wears football shoulder pads, but they, like everything else, do little to aid his injured left wing, which Sano continues to attack mercilessly throughout. Liger can't seem to get out of his own way, injuring himself performing his own offense such as a shoulderblock. He winds up doing a lot of stomps because they are among the safest things he can do, but even with these, he's selling his shoulder between each and every one. Still, Liger manages to bust Sano open. One big change here is they are breaking each other down, so the match is much slower paced. It isn't nearly as high flying or insane as 7/13/89, it's more a traditional, even leaning toward a heavyweight match despite their athleticism, with crisp technical wrestling and badass hatred spots. They get a lot out of the flying they do use, and just about everything else for that matter, as we can see them not only knowing how to counter, but beginning to counter with reasoning and timing. I loved the spot where Liger countered a go behind, but Sano then dropped down into a wakigatame. Basic stuff, but it worked perfectly within the context of the match. I'm guessing the shoulder injury is all about NJ not having confidence in the fans willingness to accept Liger's mortality, but luckily the fans wouldn't demand he be essentially undefeatable as Tiger Mask was. They understood Liger gave all he had, and took it as a heroic showing even though only Sano got up from his avalanche backdrop this time. ****3/4

1/18/90 Yamaguchi Toyama Shi Taiikukan, IWGP Junior Next Challenger Decision League Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Hiro Saito 12:53. The 3rd generation of the Liger character with the red mask, red and white body suit, and Thunder as his middle name is the one that would stick (I suppose partly because Go Nagai's anime went off the air on 1/27/90). Hiro heels it up, introducing a chair, and Liger is more than happy to give it back to him, even piledriving Saito on a table. Hiro is not the least bit spectacular, but nonetheless effective on offense as he sometimes was in the early 90's, having enough impact on his suplexes and senton to be credible. He will never have a match of the year, but he's fine for minor matches, the thing is they should be minor heavyweight matches. The downside of Hiro is woefully apparent here, as he doesn't possess nearly enough athleticism for the junior division. He can't take a decent bump off the middle rope, and more importantly, he lacks the flexibility for even simple counters into basic pins, which by the way kills the finish of this match. Despite Liger having to dumb down and Hiro's girth getting in the way a few times, the match was both effective and entertaining. Unfortunately, it just kind of ended when you thought it was about to take off. **3/4

1/25/90 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, IWGP Junior Next Challenger Decision League Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Akira Nogami 11:59. Nogami had the athleticism, and Liger was of the mindset to carry him. Nogami wasn't wrestling with a great deal of confidence, slowing down to make sure he knew the next spot, but he generally faired well. Liger sold a lot for him, especially early on to give him credibility. The fans weren't reacting, but I thought it was a fun little match. It was weird seeing Liger win with an Argentine backbreaker, as it was not only out of nowhere, but I don't recall him even using the move before. ***

Wonderland Liger #4

3/5/90: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Cheetah Kid (Ted "Rocco Rock" Petty) 9:24. It's nice to see Rocco before he got into grunge, but I have no idea why they included this match in the Liger series, as it's one of Liger's absolute worst. Cheetah had a way of making everything look at least a bit awkward. For such a good athlete, he was rather mechanical and, next to Liger, came off as nothing more than an imposter indy junior. The match was very much of the you do your spots and I do mine variety. Liger tried, but they had no chemistry. *3/4

1/30/90 Gifu Taiikukan, IWGP Junior Next Challenger Decision League Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Owen Hart 12:28. This match is, in a way, responsible for the greatest junior heavyweight match, as if Liger didn't win here to take the next challenger league, he wouldn't have faced Sano the next night. All the matches in the league that aired seemed to share the "we'll give 'em a good twelve minutes" mindset, so this wasn't the blowout match we hoped for. Liger was pretty much along for the ride, as this was clearly Owen's match, and Owen had the advantage most of the time. Hart has a tendency to make everything look easy because he's so exceptionally graceful. While this is often to his advantage, it can be a detriment as well. He never did a very good job of instilling a sense of urgency into his matches, particularly the openings, which were filled with great athletic counters, so they could still seem somewhat empty because there was no real sense of anything having been gained. Though Hart had more ability to deliver an entertaining opening than almost any junior of his era, and certainly once again did so tonight, you can see in a match such as this one that it can still come off very flat if we aren't given a reason to believe in it. The audience didn't react until he picked up the pace, not because the slower stuff wasn't well done, but because he wasn't moving us, so we didn't take that much notice until we identified some sort of manipulation, in this case reverting to our programming of equating quicker tempo to action of greater importance and enthusiasm. Anyway, they were both wrestling on a very high level and built the match up pretty well. A memorable match was a possibility, but they went home early and rather unconvincinglywith Liger just cutting Owen off on the top and taking him out with an avalanche brainbuster then a Ligerbomb rather than having a run of offense first. ***3/4

1/31/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Naoki Sano vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 20:00. The ultimate climactic battle, the greatest junior heavyweight match bringing perfect indecisive closure to the greatest junior heavyweight feud of all-time. Not merely a grudge match of epic purportions, but right up there with Akira Hokuto vs. Shinbobu Kandori 4/2/93 as the greatest ever. Not simply state of the art wrestling with awesome drama and great intensity, but the measuring stick. An extremely rich and deep match, with great single match story and psychology, but also playing off the entire brilliant feud in many ways. Heel Sano offers to put the past behind them at least long enough for a display of pre-match goodwill only to get embarrassed when Liger slaps him across the face. Liger roughs up his incited opponent, but Sano quickly exerts his will, proceeding to control 90% of the contest. Abusing and mauling Liger, Sano uses a piledriver on the floor and in-ring tombstone to set up embarrassing him by ripping his sacred mask. Posting Liger until he bleeds, Sano is soon at his cockiest, not wanting to settle for a simple pin, but wanting to prove a point and knock his opponent out. Their first singles meeting on 7/13/89 ended in a double KO, but this time Sano is going to drain his opponent of his lifeforce if not his blood and pummel him until he can no longer stand. Sano nearly succeeds with moves such as the superplex. Liger finally makes a hot comeback, introducing his flying into the match, but it’s suitably short lived. The match is about making the prospects of Liger’s victory look as bleak as humanly possible. At the same time, Liger’s refusal to surrender despite losing a bucket of blood subtly shifts Sano into deciding the victory is more important than the manner, as the belt is what proves he’s the best and will make the fans and promotion eventually see it. The selling is quite simply amazing, more toward Misawa & Kawada dominated All Japan heavyweights from a few years later than anything we'd expect from juniors before or since, with Liger down for lengthy periods as a good deal of drama is placed on each attempt to simply stand. In the best hope spot, Sano tries to take it to the next level with a superplex with both standing on the top, but Liger saves himself by shifting his weight to land on top, though he’s still unable to gain control. Liger’s inability to mount an offensive continues until the final seconds of the match when he counters Sano’s huracanrana with a Ligerbomb. Everything we are used to about pro wrestling tells us Liger will turn it on now, but the series is about making stars of both wrestlers, so even though it’s the blowoff Liger isn’t going to prove true superiority. He’s a beaten down man with nothing left, so he decides to go for broke, positioning Sano with a tombstone and pulling out the most spectacular move of the time period, the shooting star press. Liger wins because he has the greatest move and was able to will himself, or simply be lucky enough, to hang around long enough to execute it. *****

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #135
-1 1/2hr. Q=Near Perfect

1/18/90 Yamaguchi Toyama Shi Taiikukan

IWGP Junior Next Challenger Decision League Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Hiro Saito 12:53. This is the Liger we are used to with the red mask, red and white body suit, and Thunder as his middle name. Hiro heels it up, introducing a chair, and Liger is more than happy to give it back to him, even piledriving Saito on a table. Hiro is not the least bit spectacular but nonetheless effective on offense as he usually was in the early 90's, having enough impact on his suplexes and senton to be credible. He will never have a match of the year, but he's fine for minor matches, the thing is they should be minor heavyweight matches. The downside of Hiro is woefully apparent here, as he doesn't have nearly enough athleticism for the junior division. He can't take a decent bump off the middle rope, and more importantly, he lacks the flexibility for even simple counters into basic pins, which by the way kills the finish of the match. Despite Liger having to dumb down and Hiro's girth getting in the way a few times, the match was both effective and entertaining. Unfortunately, it just kind of ended when you thought it was about to take off. **3/4

Big Van Vader & Great Kokina vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Saito

Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Riki Choshu

1/25/90 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center

IWGP Junior Next Challenger Decision League Match: Black Tiger vs. Owen Hart 12:30. The biggest drawback of Owen Hart is, although the guy had all the talent in the world, he would so often do just enough to make the match good. Tiger wasn't exactly doing anything to get him out of that mindset either, in fact he wasn't doing much beyond setting Hart up. Despite the brevity, there were a lot of restholds early. They did surround these with some nice stuff though. Actually, the match was looking promising with Owen bouncing all around, pulling off a kip up or backflip out of much of what Tiger could hold him with, but it was somewhat derailed when Owen couldn't get up for his leapfrog and thus took a headbutt to the groin, which didn't do wonders for Tiger's neck, either. They slowed down to recover when they'd normally be speeding up, and by the time they were ready to go, the match was almost over. **3/4

IWGP Junior Next Challenger Decision League Match: Jushin Liger v Akira Nogami 11:59. Nogami had the athleticism, and Liger was of the mindset to carry him. Nogami wasn't wrestling with a great deal of confidence, slowing down to make sure he knew the next spot, but he generally faired well. Liger sold a lot for him, especially early on to give him credibility. The fans weren't reacting, but I thought it was a fun little match. It was weird seeing Liger win with an Argentine backbreaker, as it was not only out of nowhere, but I don't recall him even using the move before. ***

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #137 1/17/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

1/31/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Senshuken Jiai: Naoki Sano vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 20:00. The ultimate climactic battle, the greatest junior heavyweight match bringing perfect indecisive closure to the greatest junior heavyweight feud of all-time. Not merely a grudge match of epic purportions, but right up there with Akira Hokuto vs. Shinbobu Kandori 4/2/93 as the greatest ever. Not simply state of the art wrestling with awesome drama and great intensity, but the measuring stick. An extremely rich and deep match, with great single match story and psychology, but also playing off the entire brilliant feud in many ways. Heel Sano offers to put the past behind them at least long enough for a display of pre-match goodwill only to get embarrassed when Liger slaps him across the face. Liger roughs up his incited opponent, but Sano quickly exerts his will, proceeding to control 90% of the contest. Roughing Liger up and mauling him, Sano uses a piledriver on the floor and in-ring tombstone to set up embarrassing him by ripping his sacred mask. Posting Liger until he bleeds, Sano is soon at his cockiest, not wanting to settle for a simple pin, but wanting to prove a point and knock his opponent out. Their first singles meeting on 7/13/89 ended in a double KO, but this time Sano is going to drain his opponent of his lifeforce if not his blood and pummel him until he can no longer stand. Sano nearly succeeds with moves such as the superplex. Liger finally makes a hot comeback, introducing his flying into the match, but it’s suitably short lived. The match is about making the prospects of Liger’s victory look as bleak as humanly possible. At the same time, Liger’s refusal to surrender despite losing a bucket of blood subtly shifts Sano into deciding the victory is more important than the manner, as the belt is what proves he’s the best and will make the fans and promotion eventually see it. The selling is quite simply amazing, more toward Misawa & Kawada dominated All Japan heavyweights from a few years later than anything we'd expect from juniors before or since, with Liger down for lengthy periods as a good deal of drama is placed on each attempt to simply stand. In the best hope spot, Sano tries to take it to the next level with a superplex with both standing on the top, but Liger saves himself by shifting his weight to land on top, though he’s still unable to gain control. Liger’s inability to mount an offensive continues until the final seconds of the match when he counters Sano’s huracanrana with a Ligerbomb. Everything we are used to about pro wrestling tells us Liger will turn it on now, but the series is about making stars of both wrestlers, so even though it’s the blowoff Liger isn’t going to prove true superiority. He’s a beaten down man with nothing left, so he decides to go for broke, positioning Sano with a tombstone and delivering his shooting star press. Liger wins because he has the greatest move and was able to will himself, or simply lucky enough, to hang around long enough to execute it. *****

IWGP Tag Title Match: Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Big Van Vader & Great Kokina

2/10/1990 Tokyo Dome:

Naoki Sano & Pegasus Kid vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Akira Nogami 7:14 of 16:54. The final chapter in the amazing Liger vs. Sano fued, but they didn't face off with near the intensity we saw in their previous 4 singles matches, and the match was ultimately notable for the arrival of Pegasus. Pegasus was solid, certainly a few steps above Nogami, but not nearly in the class with Sano. It was a good state of the art junior match, though really rather standard for the first 13 minutes. The final 4 minutes was like a different, potentially exceptional match, heated and intense with great offense. Considering it was the Tokyo Dome, aka the mausoleum of juniors, I was surprised at how loud the audience was as soon as the finishing sequence kicked in. The offense was quite impressive, but the match had been very average for these guys up to that point, and wasn't exactly building to the explosion. ***1/2

Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto & Norio Honaga vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Kantaro Hoshino

Steve Williams vs. Salman Hashimikov

Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Riki Choshu & George Takano

NJ Tadakai no Wonderland ~Jushin Thunder Liger Hen #3~ 4/23/00
& NJ Tadakai no Wonderland ~Jushin Thunder Liger Hen #4~ 4/30/00
-1hr 50min. Q=TV Master

Wonderland Liger #3

1/18/90 Yamaguchi Toyama-shi Taiikukan, IWGP Junior Next Challenger Decision League Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Hiro Saito 12:53. The 3rd generation of the Liger character with the red mask, red and white body suit, and Thunder as his middle name is the one that would stick (I suppose partly because Go Nagai's anime went off the air on 1/27/90). Hiro heels it up, introducing a chair, and Liger is more than happy to give it back to him, even piledriving Saito on a table. Hiro is not the least bit spectacular, but nonetheless effective on offense as he sometimes was in the early 90's, having enough impact on his suplexes and senton to be credible. He will never have a match of the year, but he's fine for minor matches, the thing is they should be minor heavyweight matches. The downside of Hiro is woefully apparent here, as he doesn't possess nearly enough athleticism for the junior division. He can't take a decent bump off the middle rope, and more importantly, he lacks the flexibility for even simple counters into basic pins, which by the way kills the finish of this match. Despite Liger having to dumb down and Hiro's girth getting in the way a few times, the match was both effective and entertaining. Unfortunately, it just kind of ended when you thought it was about to take off. **3/4

Wonderland Liger #4

NJ '90 SUPER FIGHT IN TOKYO DOME Commercial Tapes 2/10/90 Tokyo Dome
-2hr 20min. Q=Mastert. 2 DVDs

Jushin Thunder Liger & Akira Nogami vs. Pegasus Kid & Naoki Sano 16:57. The final chapter in the amazing Liger vs. Sano fued, but they didn't face off with near the intensity we saw in their previous 4 singles matches, and the match was ultimately notable for the arrival of Pegasus. Pegasus was solid, certainly a few steps above Nogami, but not nearly in the class with Sano. It was a good state of the art junior match, though really rather standard for the first 13 minutes. The final 4 minutes was like a different, potentially exceptional match, heated and intense with great offense. Considering it was the Tokyo Dome, aka the mausoleum of juniors, I was surprised at how loud the audience was as soon as the finishing sequence kicked in. The offense was quite impressive, but the match had been very average for these guys up to that point, and wasn't exactly building to the explosion. ***1/2

Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto & Norio Honaga vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Kantaro Hoshino & Hiroshi Hase 13:29. Blond Outlaws were at their most efficient here, doing a basic cheap heat heel routine that wasn't exciting but kept Saito & Goto out of trouble. The match was too much about them, but Kobayashi & Hase looked good, with slick precision offense. Grizzled veteran Hoshino was a cult favorite at this point, and the more he hammed it up, the more the audience erupted for his every action. One problem with Blond Outlaws is their matches tend to never improve. They can sustain an average to good level, but they have no offense, so the later stages rarely impress. This is one of their matches that seemed as though it was going to be good, then just sort of ended. **

AWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Larry Zybysko vs. Masa Saito 11:29. Saito was at his most annoying here, posing or hulking up in between every maneuver. He was also very selfish, forcing Larry Z to sell the entire match even though he was losing. Saito was motivated and Z wasn't stalling, so apart from the annoyances it wasn't too boring. If it was actually competitive, it might have been okay, but Saito was pretty much impervious to pain. *1/4

Koji Kitao vs. Bam Bam Bigelow 9:18. Bigelow wasn't getting much love from the bookers on the Tokyo Dome shows, first having to carry amateur wrestling star Hashimikov, who at least had some potential, through a passable few minutes on 4/24/89 and now trying to have a somewhat legitimate match with another debuting wrestler, goofy yokozuna Kitao. You knew you were in for it when Kitao began the match by ripping off his yellow tank top. He'd do one basic move than return to his fighting pose. Kitao was very awkward and showed only the most basic knowledge of the sport. Bigelow tried to keep it servicable, but quickly figured out there was little he could do. Kitao wasn't screwing up, but had no particular ability or aptitude for the sport. He was similar to the star football players that guest starred on a WWF or WCW PPV, except they had a lot more athletic ability. 1/4*

Part 2

Takayuki Iizuka vs. Osamu Matsuda

Brad Rheingans vs. Victor Zangiev. Something of a precursor to Zangiev's UWF-I matches going against a fellow amateur wrestling great. It wasn't a worked shoot, and was very rushed, but Zangiev had a ton of potential & you could see where this was the kind of opponent that had enough understanding of the real thing that they could make it interesting. That being said, it was more intersting than good, as they basically just did some grappling then some big throws.

Steve Williams vs. Salman Hashimikov

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Big Van Vader vs. Stan Hansen 15:47. Dream battle of the top gaijin in NJ defending against the top gaijin in AJ. It's legendary because a couple minutes into the match Hansen's punches dislocate Vader's eye so badly it is pretty much held in only by the immediately super swollen eyelid, and Vader simply takes his mask off so he can do a better job of popping the eyeball back in and continues more or less as if nothing had happened. But apart from that, it's about the least dynamic match you'll ever see, and rather boring. The stand toe to toe the entire time, rarely is there more than a foot between them, and blugeon each other with short little blows that alternately hurt really badly and miss. Though these are the sort of blows you can really injure someone with, they actually don't work that well in a fake setting, as the audience can't hear, or half the time even see them, and thus the crowd is dead most of the time. I give Vader a ton of credit for being crazy enough to not simply mail it in, and he was making a genuine effort to entertain, but, at least for me, it wasn't translating that well. I was really annoyed by the pre UWF style lame countout finish, I guess because they could have just called the match off and sent Vader to the hospital, but they stuck with it to eventually find their way to a different means to no end. **1/4

Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono

NJPW TV-Asahi Leak 5/10/81, 2/10/90, & 11/19/87
-2hr 5min. Q=VG/Gd

5/10/81 Korakuen Hall Handheld: Stan Hansen vs. Hulk Hogan

2/10/90 Tokyo Dome

Kengo Kimura & Osamu Kido vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu

Riki Choshu & George Takano vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Tiger Mask

4/29/87 Tsu City: Akira Maeda vs. Andre The Giant

11/19/87 Korakuen Hall

Riki Choshu & Masa Saito & Hiro Saito vs. Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takada & Osamu Kido 10:51. Akira Maeda breaks Riki Choshu's orbital with a shoot kick. TV-Asahi leak Handheld camera version.

Riki Choshu & Masa Saito & Hiro Saito vs. Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takada & Osamu Kido 10:51. TV-Asahi leak fixed camera version.

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #139
-1 1/2hr. Q=Near Perfect

1/30/90: Masa Saito & Hiroshi Hase vs. Osamu Kido & Kengo Kimura

3/2/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Wild Pegasus & Cheetah Kid vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Takayuki Iizuka 6:34 of 8:10. Entertaining little sprint. Liger was more motivated here, and beginning to get into a groove with Pegasus. These two are very good, and Cheetah, while hardly great, is at least more than happy to catipult his body.

Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Saito vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Punisher Dice Morgan (The Undertaker)

Super Strong Machine vs. George Takano

Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Riki Choshu & Masahiro Chono

3/5/90: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Cheetah Kid (Ted "Rocco Rock" Petty) 9:24. Cheetah had a way of making everything look at least a bit awkward. For such a good athlete, he was rather mechanical and, next to Liger, came off as nothing more than an imposter indy junior. The match was very much of the you do your spots and I do mine variety. Liger tried, but they had no chemistry. *3/4

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #140 2/11/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

3/5/90

George Takano & Masahiro Chono vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito

Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Larry Cameron vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Riki Choshu

3/15/90

Hiroshi Hase & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Norio Honaga & Hiro Saito 14:46. Simple, effective match with Blond Outlaws controlling through shady methods, setting up brief bursts of hot offense from Liger & Hase. Blond Outlaws jumped Liger & Hase before the bell and generally roughed them up, quickly cutting them off with a low blow or double team everytime they seemed to gain momentum. Liger eventually had enough, taking a chair to Saito then jumping off the top to stuff Hase's piledriver. Hase & Liger were very good, and Honaga & Saito were able to stay within their element. ***1/4

Masa Saito & Koji Kitao vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Punisher Dice Morgan

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #141 2/17/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

3/15/90

Masa Chono & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Larry Cameron & The Barbarian (John Nord)

Seiji Sakaguchi Retirement Match: Scott Hall & Mike Kirchner vs. Seiji Sekaguchi & Kengo Kimura

Riki Choshu & George Takano vs. Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto

3/19/90 Hiroshima Kenritsu Taiikukan: Hiroshi Hase & George Takano & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Norio Honaga & Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito 14:50. Though you want your main heel to not merely dominate, but strike fear in the audience's heart, what you really want from your other heels is to be annoying so they'll elicit fiery performances from the faces. Blond Outlaws jumping the faces at the bells, and taking their shortcuts only served to motivate the opposition, who wrestled with a spark. The difference in Takano was most noticable, as he's prone to being lackadaisical. You knew the match was working when you heard the audience's reaction to the faces all putting the boots to Goto at once. Fun and effective match. ***1/4

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #142 3/2/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

4/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Tatsutoshi Goto & Super Strong Machine vs. George Takano & Masahiro Chono

Koji Kitao vs. Mike Kirchner

Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Larry Cameron vs. Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto

4/27/90 Tokyo Bay NK Hall

Kengo Kimura vs. Osamu Kido

Jushin Thunder Liger & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto 9:18. Minor entry in the Liger vs. Blond Outlaws program. Liger is super over, getting reaction to everything he does, especially his flying. There's surprisingly little reaction to Outlaws double teams and low blows though. It's like the fans boo them once, then realize that's all these guys can do. Liger got a big pop for laying kicks into Hiro's chest until he released his Boston crab on Kensuke though. **

Super Strong Machine vs. Shiro Koshinka 10:46. This wasn't their finest moment. It had a few brief good segments, but they weren't clicking. Koshinaka missed a leap frog and hurt his ankle landing on his feet to counter a suplex. Machine worked the ankle, and I guess this played into the finish as Machine kinda grabs the ankle in midair to counter Koshinaka's hip attack, but it doesn't look like much. *1/2

NJ Tadakai no Wonderland ~Foreigners Story~ #22 & 23 Big Van Vader
-1hr 50min. Q=Ex

4/29/89 IWGP Heavyweight Title Tournament: Vader vs. Shinya Hashimoto

4/27/90: Vader & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Riki Choshu & Koki Kitahara

1/17/91 IWGP Heavyweight Title: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Vader

1/4/96 INOKI FINAL COUNTDOWN 5th: Vader vs. Antonio Inoki

NJPW Shinya Hashimoto The Complete Works DVD Box Set
-21hr 25min. Q=Perfect. 15 DVDs

#1 & 2 Three Musketeers Masahiro Chono

3/20/87 '87 Young Lion Cup Final: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Masahiro Chono

7/29/88 Shinya Hasimoto & Masahiro Chono & Keiji Muto vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka

12/5/88: Shinya Hasimoto & Masahiro Chono vs. Kerry Von Erich & Kevin Von Erich

8/9/91 '91 G1 Climax League Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Masahiro Chono

3/1/92: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Masahiro Chono

1/4/94 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Masahiro Chono

8/28/99: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Masahiro Chono

#3 & 4 3 Musketeers Keiji Muto

4/27/90 IWGP Tag Title Match: Shinya Hasimoto & Masa Saito vs. Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono

6/12/90: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Keiji Muto

7/13/93 IWGP Tag Title Match: Shinya Hasimoto & Keiji Muto vs. Hellraisers

12/10/93 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs Keiji Muto

5/3/95 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Keiji Muto

6/5/97 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Keiji Muto

9/23/98: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Keiji Muto

#5 & 6 IWGP Title Part 1

4/24/89 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Vader

11/1/90 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Riki Choshu

9/23/92 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Great Muta

12/13/93 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Power Warrior

3/21/94 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Scott Norton

9/23/94 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Power Warrior

12/13/94 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Hiroshi Hase

#7 & 8 IWGP Title Part 1

1/4/95 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Kensuke Sasaki

2/19/95 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Scott Norton

4/16/95 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Lord Steven Regal

4/29/96 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Nobuhiko Takada

6/11/96 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Satoshi Kojima

2/16/97 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Kazuo Yamazaki

8/10/97 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

#9 & 10 Fujinami, Choshu, Tenryu

4/24/89 IWPG Champion Decision Tournament Round 1: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Riki Choshu

5/28/90: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Riki Choshu

8/8/93: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu

2/17/94: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu

4/4/94 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Tatsumi Fujinami

5/1/94 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Tatsumi Fujinami

6/15/94 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Riki Choshu

8/1/98 G1 Climax Tournament: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu

10/9/00: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Tatsumi Fujinami

#11 & 12 G1 CLIMAX

8/11/91 G1 CLIMAX Final: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Masahiro Chono

8/3/93 G1 CLIMAX: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Hiroshi Hase

8/7/94 G1 CLIMAX: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Shiro Koshinaka

8/15/95 G1 CLIMAX: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Keiji Muto

8/2/96 G1 CLIMAX: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Riki Choshu

8/3/97 G1 CLIMAX: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

8/2/98 G1 CLIMAX: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Kazuo Yamazaki

#13 Ishu Kakutogisen (Martial Arts Matches)

7/22/90: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Alexis Chulin

12/26/90: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Tony Halme

5/31/91: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Randy Thornton

6/12/91: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Ramzin Shibiev

9/23/91: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Tony Halme

9/23/97: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Zane Frazier

11/2/97: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Hubert Numrich

1/4/98: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Dennis Lane

#14 & 15 Strongest Foreigners

4/24/89 IWGP Champion Decision Tournament: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Victor Zangiev

11/3/89: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Vader

12/5/89 World Cup League: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Salman Hashimikov

12/6/89 World Cup League: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Steve Williams

3/19/90 IWGP Tag Title Match Shinya Hasimoto & Masa Saito vs. Scott Hall & Punisher Dice Morgan

8/7/91 G1 CLIMAX: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

5/17/92: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Great OZ

9/23/93: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Jake Roberts

7/17/96 IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Ric Flair

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #143 3/4/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

5/5/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito vs. Hiroshi Hase & Apollo Sugawara 16:34. Starts in the requisite Blond Outlaws manner with them jumping before the bell, but rather than the typical shady domination, Saito winds up doing quite a bit of selling. Sugawara has the posture of the thuggish bodyguard who can't get out of his own way, but althogh he lacks grace, he does his moves well enough. Still, you are begging Hase not to tag because he's the best wrestler in the match by miles, and is elevating the quality quite a bit without much assistance. Hase's enthusiasm keeps the crowd involved in this rather ordinary match. Finish doesn't really work, as although Blond Outlaws aren't getting their way as usual, this is one of those rejects from the pre-UWF era where they seemingly just pick an indescriminate time to end it via screw job. In this case, Animal Hamaguchi tooks the opportunity to flash his diving elbow. **1/4

Kensuke Sasaki vs. Masahiko Takasugi

Shiro Koshinka vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 16:52. Intense match in the style of the Koshinaka era, mixing UWF strikes and submissions with energetic running segments. Liger starts in full martial arts mode, blistering Koshinaka with kicks and now adding the shotei to his arsenal. There's a few too many indescriminate submissions, but these two are so motivated the time always passes quickly. They are also smart, doing something to pick the crowd up in between stretching each other out. Koshinaka might not have the best high spots, but his speed and enthusiam more than make up for it, and he always winds up getting some of the best crowd reactions. The fans are really hot down the stretch, but as with many of the junior matches of this era, it ends just when you begin to think it has the potential to be something special. ***3/4

Masahiro Chono & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Masa Saito & Riki Choshu

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #144 3/6/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

5/24/90 Tokyo Bay NK Hall

Hiroshi Hase vs. Norio Honaga 11:13. Match is just kind of there. Honaga is fine in tag, but has yet to figure out how to work around his lack of offense in singles. He has the advantage too much, and it hurts the match. Hase also isn't into this one as much as usual. **

Jushin Thunder Liger & Osamu Kido & Kengo Kimura vs. Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto 13:45. Liger was a real spark plug, working brief fast paced segments that ignited the audience. He was singlehandedly making the match, which was lucky as he wasn't getting much help. Saito was the best on the heel side, taking a lot and showing something beyond the Blood Outlaw standard when he was on offense. Kimura wasn't doing much to distinguish himself from the heels, and Kido can always pop the crowd with his couple of over moves, but doesn't deliver a whole lot else. **3/4

5/28/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan

Kensuke Sasaki & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Apollo Sugawara vs. Animal Hamaguchi & Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto

Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Steve Williams 9:46. This battle of the super heavyweight gaijins had promise, but never really came off. They began structuring the match around parity spots, building up to who could knock each other down first. Williams nearly died when Bigelow couldn't bend low enough for Williams to leap frog him. Okay, I exaggerate, but Williams was down for two minutes, shoeing Bigelow away every time Bam Bam tried to restart the match. Eventually, when he was ready to go, Williams did the Chono reverse kick to the balls to make things even. The intensity picked up tremendously as they exchanged stiff shots, but that lead to them brawling on the outside forever. I kept getting ready to get pissed that it was going to be a countout, doubly so since with the interruption, they really hadn't even got going yet. The ref ignored that part, but then disqualified Williams for repeated chair shots once they'd reentered. Bigelow bladed, and they continued brawling until Williams had to be restrained because he'd beaten Bigelow helpless, but still this was really just the concept of these two having a wrestling match.

Big Van Vader vs. Koji Kitao

NJPW Crush The Super Heavy 1990 #2 Handheld 5/26/90 Tsu City Gym
-2hr 10min. Q=VG. 1 DVD

Osamu Kido vs. Osamu Matsuda

Kengo Kimura vs. Takayuki Iizuka

Norio Honaga & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Apollo Sugawara & Black Cat

Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kuniaki Kobayashi

Jushin Thunder Liger & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Shiro Koshinaka

Keiji Muto vs. Steve Williams 7:24

Koji Kitao & Masa Saito vs. Big Van Vader & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow

Riki Choshu vs. Masahiro Chono

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #145 3/9/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

5/28/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan

IWGP Tag Title Match: Keiji Muto & Masa Chono vs. Hiroshi Hase & Shiro Koshinaka 21:01. A nice combination of Chono and Hase's old school technical style with Muto & Koshinaka's fast paced junior match, getting excellent contributions across the board. The match built slowly, with Chono & Hase being the driving forces in the scientific early stages. The scientific wrestling was very well executed, but generally meandered as it lacked story or focus to either give it meaning or make us believe in the moves as finishers. The match would pick up when Muto & Koshinaka came in, but they saved most of the spots for the later portion. In stages, they picked up the pace and incorporated more spots until they were generally sprinting in the final minutes, apart from an attempt at a legit submission finisher such as Chono's STF. The fans were into it all the way, not showing any particular allegiance, but rather supporting whoever was losing or exciting them at that particular moment. ***3/4

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Riki Choshu 13:34. Although a bit on the short side, this is my favorite of the Hashimoto/Choshu matches I've seen. Their matches are always brutal fights, wars really, so the offense is more or less the same, but I like how they structured this one, and it resulted in awesome reactions to every notable event. Though Choshu is the legend and previous IWGP Heavyweight Champion whereas Hashimoto is more than 3 years away from his first title run, Hashimoto did defeat Choshu at the Tokyo Dome on 4/24/89, and they use that and his generally overwhelming toughness to play the match as though he's the favorite and Choshu is the underdog. Choshu was fine when he could tie Hashimoto up, though that doesn't provide any offense of interest, but lost every toe to toe battle because his headbutts were no match for Hashimoto's kicks and chops. He basically had to concede this fact, and figure out a surprise attack in order to go on a run. Choshu finally scored, catching a charging Hashimoto by laying him out with a wicked elbow. The good news for Choshu is he was able to bully Hashimoto once he seized an advantage. However, once Hashimoto countered with a DDT, he effortlessly resumed devouring Choshu. Choshu again had to pull something out of the hat, countering a charging Hashimoto, this time with his Riki lariat. Choshu totally unloaded on Hashimoto, using multiple Riki lariats, the diving kneedrop, sasorigatame, all his mainstays and anything he can think up. Hashimoto again had trouble regaining the momentum once Choshu was rolling, but could take everything Choshu can throw at him, and was simply too brutal and powerful for Choshu to handle. The result was another upset that went a long way toward solidifying Hashimoto's upper card status because at no time did the match ever feel like an upset, it instead felt like an inevitability, and that's really to Choshu's credit, as unlike the fluke during the IWGP Heavyweight Title Tournament, he put Hashimoto all the way over in this one. ***3/4

6/12/90 Fukuoka Sports Center: Keiji Muto vs. Masahiro Chono 26:26. A Chono style technical match of the slowest and dullest variety, the match quite simply dragged and was ultimately about as soporific as Muto vs. white Chono can get. Supposedly built around parity, it often seemed to have the motto "I can do nothing just as well as you." It was several steps down from what Chono was doing with Hase on 5/28/90, which is surprising even given how much better than Hase is on the mat than Muto. Thought Muto can be counted on to work a knee, the sort of continuity that was missing in the 5/28/90 tag, he is also at least as willing as Chono to lay around and do next to nothing, whereas Hase has a much better sense of when to move on to a different hold or leave the mat entirely. Chono eventually took Muto's knee, primarily with figure 4's, but most of this was getting little to no reaction as the activity level was generally very low. When they finally stood up, they did stereo dropkicks but Muto's elbow defeated Chono's jumping elbow and he put him away with the moonsault. **

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #146 3/11/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

6/26/90 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

Kengo Kimura vs. The Soultaker

Owen Hart vs. Pegasus Kid 12:10. I wish these two would have had more matches, as you could see the potential for greatness, but they lacked the familiarity with one another, and mainly Benoit lacked the belief. It started great with Pegasus really taking it to Owen, guerrila pressing him to the floor and following with a snap suplex. Owen tried to use his speed to counteract Pegasus' power, but got caught in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. This woke Owen up, and he began showing Pegasus he could be as stiff and powerful as him. For whatever reason, Pegasus lost his confidence as soon as Owen took over and began carrying the match. Pegasus didn't look at home during much of the body, which mixed Owen's gymnastic counters with too many rest holds. Though they hadn't developed their chemistry, causing a moment or two of uncertainty, Pegasus was really on early and nothing happened that should have changed this. Luckily, Pegasus got it back for the finish, surprisingly kicking out of the moonsault then scoring the big upset, knocking Owen out with the nadare shiki backdrop. ***3/4

Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Steve Williams

2/3 Falls: Riki Choshu & Kensuke Sasaki & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Shiro Koshinaka & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Animal Hamaguchi & Strong Machine & Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto & Masanobu Kurisu

NJ Tadakai no Wonderland ~Jushin Thunder Liger Hen~ #5~ 5/7/00
& NJ Tadakai no Wonderland ~Jushin Thunder Liger Hen~ #6~ 5/14/00
-1hr 50min. Q=TV Master

Wonderland Liger #5

3/19/90 Hiroshima Kenritsu Taiikukan IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Pegasus Kid 15:21. Liger vs. Pegasus would quickly be on its way to becoming the junior feud of the 1990’s, but Pegasus’ first title challenge was probably their worst Japanese match together and his least memorable IWGP junior title match. Both men were not only figuring out how to work together, but actually still deciding the wrestlers they wanted to be. Low dosage Benoit only threw 2 chops, instead trying to match Liger in quickness, athleticism, flying, and matwork, in other words trying to take the champion down on Liger’s own terms rather than crunch his bones. They hadn’t developed the great chemistry we’d see later in the year, so it was essentially the standard exciting Liger match of the period with a long mat sequence and no particular story that relies on the highspots to make or break it. Of course, Liger’s flying was tops in the world at that time, and Benoit was obviously no slouch in the days before his veins appeared ready to explode in some sort of chemically induced version of Scanners. Pegasus had his moments, but even though it was a little better than Liger’s big matches with Finlay, Villano V, and Casas, he didn’t exactly distinguish himself from the pack of junior contenders and the dropoff from the ultimate Liger vs. Sano to Liger’s first defense was immense. You couldn’t hope for the same atmosphere, but the lack of direction and unconvincing finish made it all the more disappointing. That said, if every feud started with a match this good... ***1/2

2/5/90 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. David "Fit" Finlay 9:33. The matchup had a lot of potential, but they didn’t really develop it, instead essentially working as individuals with Liger mainly selling Finlay’s basic bashing. It was essentially a reprise of the lesser portions of Fuji Yamada’s UK tour with the roughhousing heel controlling the match, and the face doing almost all the spectacular spots during his brief hot comebacks. Finlay is unlike any of Liger’s other opponents; he’s the ultimate bruiser. The fans didn’t seem to know what to think of him repeatedly bludgeoning Liger with knees and elbows, but his arrogance turned them against him. There was a huge pop for Liger’s Neal kick comeback, but the audience seemed in a state of shock when Finlay almost immediately reasserted himself. ***1/4

8/19/90 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Pegasus Kid 15:02. When I first began watching Liger’s Japanese matches in 1992, Liger, Naoki Sano, and Pegasus immediately became my definition of top quality wrestling. While the Liger vs. Pegasus feud couldn’t quite match Liger vs. Sano, it became quite an amazing one in it’s own right, beginning to escape the mammoth Sano shadow with this second junior title match. There’s certainly a night and day difference between this early classic and their first try 5 months earlier. Liger & Pegasus seemed far more confident as individuals with Kid finding his stride, still displaying his athleticism, but adding the stiffness he became synonymous with. He asserted himself as a wrecking ball early by guerrilla pressing Liger over the top and whipping him into the guard rail. The chemistry they developed together was the huge difference from 3/19/90 though. The backbone of this encounter was their numerous explosive, perfectly timed counter laded sequences, allowing them to pull off the difficult match where they repeatedly went back and forth with every aggression liable to be immediately reversed. You could feel they were beginning to think alike, and that allowed everything to become crisper, to be performed more emphatically because there was no doubt in their minds. The first half was intense, but generally not extraordinary. However, they completely emptied their tanks in the second half, just going back and forth with lightning counters until someone finally successfully executed a spectacular maneuver. Pegasus won with his guillotine leg drop, establishing himself and allowing for a series by taking the title. ****1/2

Wonderland Liger #6

9/30/90 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena IWGP Junior Heavyweight Challenger Decision Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Villano V 12:11. Rather than simply making former IWGP Junior Champion Liger the #1 contender, he was forced to defeat a formidable luchador to earn the rematch. Liger was the best junior even though he hadn’t really found himself yet, but this was an exciting time because he’d experiment and dabble into every style. The match was slanted about 15% toward Villano’s style, which was a nice mix since Liger is more proficient in lucha than Villano is in puroresu. Villano understands Japan enough to not go crazy with appendage grabs, but while he’s a good solid worker, he’s not particularly athletic, stiff, or powerful, so he simply doesn’t possess any weapons to use on Liger in a match of this magnitude. They ran around early with Liger eventually doing the majority of his best stuff to make the match. Despite the weak finish, it was a good match, it’s just not the sort of match you’d want to see Liger in repeatedly because while there’s little chance of it falling apart, there’s also very little upside. Pegasus & Liger had a post match staredown with Pegasus declaring he’d meet all comers. ***

11/1/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Pegasus Kid vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 12:32. Liger vs. Pegasus shifts toward Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid in this exceptional sprint that put the Sano era to rest and ushered in the new era where you marked the upcoming Liger vs. Pegasus match on your calendar. Probably the best offensive match the junior division produced all year, delivering an exceptional mix of great brutal power with big suplexes off the ropes and exceptional flying, capped by Liger’s breathtaking shooting star press. Though the briefest IWGP Junior title change until the rightfully short Koji Kanemoto over Norio Honaga 2/19/95, they tested their now razor sharp reactions with one highly developed counter sequence after another. It was some of the greatest work of the year to be certain, but they didn’t really develop any story or address the rivalry in any way, so as impressive as it was it seemed a bit empty. They got me all stoked when Pegasus came right out establishing the kamikaze mode that helped make the Sano matches come off as a life and death struggle, but after the guerrilla press over the top followed by the suicidal missile kick to the floor, they followed with the brief mat portion then began attempting all their big spots. The fans had really taken to Liger, going nuts anytime his opponent was on the floor because they knew some amazing dive was on its way. I’d rate this slightly higher than their 8/19/90 match because their added familiarity allows them to further develop the match, but it seems a bit short and one-dimensional to bump up another 1/4*. ****1/2

12/26/90 Hamamatsu Arena. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Negro Casas 9:40 of 16:37. Liger’s rivalry with Casas was one of his more disappointing ones because Casas had established himself as arguably the top worker in Mexico in the late 1980’s, so it seemed to be the super dream match with both great juniors in their prime. Luchadors are primarily six man tag wrestlers who rely on the rare use of near falls the couple times a year they actually wrestle a singles match, so despite their best efforts they never seem to have enough variety and diversity to walk in and dial up a great 15 minute singles match in Japan against an unfamiliar opponent. Casas in 1990 is several notches better than even peak Dr. Wagner Jr., but Wagner made a much greater impact in late 1990’s New Japan because he worked their regularly, not only honing his style to puroresu but also and developing the timing and chemistry with his opponents that’s so important to the step oriented lucha style. Anyway, Casas faired far better than Villano V, but he’s also a far superior athlete with the charisma to immediately get himself over as a heel. The match was about 75% puroresu, and very well executed with nice but not blowaway offense. It was quite solid, but lacked anything to distinguish it as a big title match. It doesn’t help that the complete match seems to be lost, as they showed it from a distant camera from the top of the arena for a minute or so until the old TV version kicks in. ***1/2

NJPW WPW 6/10/90 taped 5/28/90 Osaka
-45min. Q=Ex

Big Van Vader vs. Koji Kitao

IWGP Tag Title: Masahiro Chono & Keiji Muto vs. Hiroshi Hase & Shiro Koshinaka

Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto

NJPW WPW 6/23/90 taped 6/14/90 Oita
& NJPW WPW 7/1/90 taped 6/26/90 Tokyo
-1hr 30min. Q=VG/VG-Ex

6/14/90

Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga & Super Strong Machine vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Kantaro Hoshino & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Takayuki Iizuka

Masahiro Chono & Keiji Muto vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Kensuke Sasaki

Big Van Vader & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Riki Choshu & Stan Hansen

6/26/90

Masahiro Chono & Keiji Muto vs. Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto

Riki Choshu & Shiro Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Kantaro Hoshino & Kensuke Sasake vs. Animal Hamaguchi & Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto & Norio Honaga

NJPW WPW 7/21/90 taped 7/19/90 Shizuoka
& NJPW WPW 8/11/90 taped 7/22/90 Sapporo Tsukisamu Green Dome
-1hr 30min. Q=PG/Ex

7/19/90

Workout: Vladimir Berkovich vs. Aleksey Tyurin

Kengo Kimura & Osamu Matsuda & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Kengo Kimura & Takashi Iizuka vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto & Norio Honaga

Riki Choshi & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Animal Hamaguchi & Masanobu Kurisu

IWGP Tag Title: Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Kokina & Samu

7/22/90

Masanobu Kurisu vs. Tatsutoshi Goto

Vladimir Berkovich vs. Koji Kitao

Kokina & Samu vs. Riki Choshu & Masa Saito

Martial Arts Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Aleksey Tyurin

NJPW 1988-90 Handheld Compilation 12/7/88-12/26/90
-2hr. Q=VG/Ex

12/7/88: Kensuke Sasaki vs. Minoru Suzuki

3/15/89: Antonio Inoki vs. Minoru Suzuki

4/18/89: Riki Choshu vs. Tatsutoshi Goto

7/20/90: Riki Choshu & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Road Warriors

7/22/90: Kengo Kimura & Osamu Kido vs. Road Warriors

7/23/90: Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Road Warriors

7/24/90: Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs. Road Warriors

7/25/90: Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs. Road Warriors

10/7/90: Jushin Thunder Liger & Owen Hart vs. Pegasus Kid & Villano V

12/26/90 Hamamatsu Arena. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Negro Casas

NJPW Fierce! Fight Match Legend DVD Box Set
-9hr 15min. Q=Perfect. 6 DVDs

Disc 1

5/16/75 World League Tournament 1975 Semifinal: Kintaro Oki vs. Seiji Sakaguchi 2:33. Complete

7/25/75 2/3 Falls: Antonio Inoki & Strong Kobayashi vs. Brute Bernard & Hans Schmidt

8/14/76 Vale Tudo: Ivan Gomes vs. Osamu Kido. Complete

1/24/79: Kantaro Hoshino & Kotetsu Yamamoto vs. Osamu Kido & Riki Choshu

4/3/79 Martial Arts World Heavyweight Title: Antonio Inoki vs. Lefthook Dayton R6 1:25. Complete

disc 2

4/29/86: Akira Maeda vs. Andre The Giant 26:35. Complete

10/9/86 Martial Arts Match: Akira Maeda vs. Don Nakaya Nielsen R5 2:16. Complete

9/16/96 Kengo Kimura & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Osamu Nishimura & Riki Choshu 9:38. Complete

disc 3

11/18/77 The Great Antonio vs. Haruka Eigen & Kantaro Hoshino & Kengo Kimura 2:43

12/8/77 Antonio Inoki vs. The Great Antonio 3:49. Complete

11/1/79 2/3 Falls: Greg Valentine & Pat Patterson vs. Seiji Sakaguchi & Tatsumi Fujinami

7/7/83: Abdullah The Butcher vs. Dick Murdoch 8:46. Complete

11/17/78 Pre-Japan Championship Preliminary League: Umanosuke Ueda vs. Kotetsu Yamamoto 2:09. Complete

disc 4

6/6/86 IWGP League 1986 Block B: Akira Maeda vs. Umanosuke Ueda 5:23. Complete

11/19/87 Riki Choshu face attack incident

5/28/90: Big Van Vader vs. Koji Kitao 9:19. Complete

6/26/92: Hiroyoshi Yamamoto & Satoshi Kojima vs. Koji Kanemoto & Osamu Nishimura 12:33. Complete

12/23/98: Kensuke Sasaki vs. Shinjiro Otani 12:50. Complete

1/4/04: Yuji Nagata vs. Kensuke Sasaki 12:10. Complete

5/3/04 Martial Arts Match: Musashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata R2 2:00. Complete

disc 5

10/10/74 NWF Heavyweight Title: Antonio Inoki vs. Kintaro Oki 13:13. Complete

7/13/78 2/3 Falls: Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Chavo Guerrero & Pedro Morales 26:30. Complete

7/21/78 2/3 Falls: Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Chavo Guerrero & Pedro Morales 23:45

1/14/77 2/3 Falls NWA North American Tag Title: Seiji Sakaguchi & Strong Kobayashi vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanosuke Ueda 19:27. Complete

2/2/77 2/3 Falls NWA North American Tag Title: Seiji Sakaguchi & Strong Kobayashi vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanosuke Ueda. Complete

disc 6

2/8/78 Nail Board Death: Antonio Inoki vs. Umanosuke Ueda 11:02. Complete

12/8/77 Martial Arts Best In The World Decision: Willem Ruska vs. Buffalo Allen 9:16. Complete

2/8/92 Martial Arts Match: Akitoshi Saito vs. Michiyoshi Ohara 6:16. Complete

10/29/95 Jushin Thunder Liger & Koji Kanemoto vs. Kenichi Yamamoto & Naoki Sano 15:46. Complete

NJ Tadakai no Wonderland ~Jushin Thunder Liger Hen~ #13 7/2/00
& NJPW World Pro Wrestling 12/17/99 taped 11/25/99 & 11/27/99
-1hr 50min. Q=TV Master

6/12/90 Fukuoka Kokusai Center, Martial Arts Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Masashi Aoyagi R4. Liger does almost everything shockingly credibly, to the point he actually seems like the total package with the amateur wrestling, ground and pound and submissions to win, and all the kickboxing movement & feints to stay out of trouble. While the match is fairly one-sided, it's a great example of using a more legitimate setting to up the intense hatred pro wrestling often strives to attain. The fact that they manage not to lose the plot when it comes to credibility as they incorporate cheap shots, mask ripping, and a blade job is pretty amazing. An underrated classic of the genre, and a big win for Liger, defeating a legimiate karate master who also defeated Onita in their first match on 10/6/89. ****

2/24/94 Tokyo Nippon Budokan: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Shinya Hashimoto 23:08

11/25/99 Utsunomiya City Gym

Kensuke Sasaki & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata

Hiro Saito & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) vs. Masahiro Chono & Michael Wallstreet & Super J

11/27/99 Fujisawa City Akiba Bunka Gym

Koji Kanemoto & Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. El Samurai & Kendo Kashin & Minoru Tanaka

Kensuke Sasaki & Tadao Yasuda & Takashi Iizuka vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Shiro Koshinaka & Yuji Nagata

Hiro Saito & Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Masahiro Chono & Michael Wallstreet & Super J

3/23/19: Tajiri vs. Mike Bailey

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #147 4/5/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

6/26/90 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan: Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto

6/30/90 Nagano Ueda Shimin Taiikukan

Masahiro Chono vs. The Soultaker

Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Owen Hart vs. Steve Williams & Pegasus Kid

Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Animal Hamaguchi & Tatsutoshi Goto & Masanobu Kurisu

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #148 4/6/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

6/30/90 Nagano Ueda Shimin Taiikukan: Keiji Muto vs. Brad Rheingans

7/5/90 Iwate-ken

Masa Saito vs. Steve Williams

Masahiro Chono & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Brad Rheingans & Pegasus Kid

Keiji Muto vs. Owen Hart

Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & The Soultaker

NJPW/AJPW Keiji Muto Debut 25th Anniversary Commemorative DVD Box Set
-15hr 20min. Q=Perfect. 10 DVDs

Note: There's about 178 matches shown in total. Listed matches are the complete ones.

Disc 1

9/18/85: Keiji Muto vs. Tony St. Clair

Disc 2

11/3/86: Keiji Muto & Kengo Kimura vs. Antonio Inoki & Kerry Von Erich

11/9/87: Keiji Muto vs. Dick Murduch

Disc 3

6/30/90: Keiji Muto vs. Brad Rheigans

3/14/91: Keiji Muto vs. Mike Rotunda

5/17/92 IWGP Title: Keiji Muto vs. Riki Choshu

Disc 4

9/26/93: Keiji Muto vs. Hulk Hogan

1/4/95 IWGP Tag Title: Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs. Rick & Scott Steiner

5/26/95: Keiji Muto vs. Steve Austin

Disc 5

11/14/95: Keiji Muto & Sting vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson

9/23/96 Vale Tudo Rules: Keiji Muto vs. Pedro Otavario

5/3/99 IWGP Title: Keiji Muto vs. Genichiro Tenryu

Disc 6

6/8/01 Triple Crown Title: Keiji Muto vs. Genichiro Tenryu

Disc 7

10/28/01 IWGP & AJPW Tag Titles: Keiji Muto & Taiyo Kea vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Osamu Nishimura

10/31/04: Keiji Muto & Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasake

Disc 9

12/5/05: Keiji Muto & Akebono vs. Dudley Boyz

Disc 10

4/27/08 IWGP Title: Keiji Muto vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

NJPW Burning Wave #2 Handheld 7/3/90 Fukuoka City Gym
-1hr 30min. Q=VG

Kuniaki Kobayashi & Apollo Sugawara vs. Kantaro Hoshino & Takayuki Iizuka

Norio Honaga vs. Osamu Matsuda

Kengo Kimura & Osamu Kido vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito

Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Kensuke Sasaki

Owen Hart vs. Shiro Koshinaka

Keiji Muto & Masa Chono vs. Steve Wiliams & Pegasus Kid

Riki Choshu & Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Soultaker & Brad Rheingans

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #150 5/3/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

7/22/90 Sapporo Tsukisama Green Dome

Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Masanobu Kurisu

Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs. Great Kokina & Wild Samoan

Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Animal Warrior & Hawk Warrior

8/16/90 Chiba Koen Taiikukan

Jushin Thunder Liger & Kensuke Sasaki & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto & Pegasus Kid

Animal Hamaguchi vs. Masanobu Kurisu

Riki Choshu & Kengo Kimura vs. Mike Enos & Wayne Bloom 8:53

NJPW Wrestling Scramble 1990 #4 Handheld 7/22/90 Sapporo Tsukisama Green Dome
-2hr 25min. Q=VG.1 DVD

Kengo Kimura Sings

Takayuki Iizuka vs. Osamu Matsuda

Kengo Kimura vs. Osamu Kido

Pegasus Kid vs. Biff Wellington

Kensuke Sasaki vs. Animal Hamaguchi

Shiro Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine & Norio Honaga & Animal Hamaguchi

Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Masanobu Kurisu

Koji Kitao vs. Vladimir Berkovich

Riki Chosu & Masa Saito vs. Great Kokina & Wild Samoan

Martial Arts Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Aleksey Tyurin

Animal Warrior & Hawk Warrior vs. Keiji Muto & Masa Chono

NJPW Wrestling Scramble 1990 #7 Handheld 7/25/90 Iwate Prefectural Gym
-1hr 55min. Q=VG-Ex

Black Cat vs. Apollo Sugawara 9:18

Osamu Matsuda vs. Takayuki Iizuka 10:23

Kantaro Hoshino vs. Norio Honaga 12:58

Kengo Kimura vs. Masanobu Kurisu 5:18

Hiroshi Hase & Osamu Kido vs. Biff Wellington & Pegasus Kid 10:41

Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto & Super Strong Machine vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Shiro Koshinaka 14:41

Masa Saito & Riki Choshu vs. Animal Warrior & Hawk Warrior 8:28

Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Great Kokina & Wild Samoan 10:31

NJPW WPW 8/18/90 taped 8/16/90 Chiba Park Stadium
& NJPW WPW 9/9/90 taped 8/19/90 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
-1hr 30min. Q=VG

8/16/90

Jushin Thunder Liger & Kensuke Sasaki & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto & Pegasus Kid

Animal Hamaguchi vs. Masanobu Kurisu

Riki Choshu & Kengo Kimura vs. Wayne Bloom & Mike Enos

Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Big Van Vader & Bam Bam Bigalow & The Soultaker

8/19/90

IWGP Jr. Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Pegasus Kid

IWGP Tag Title: Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Wayne Bloom & Mike Enos

IWGP Heavyweight Title: Big Van Vader vs. Riki Choshu

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #151 5/8/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

8/19/90 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Saito vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & The Soultaker

2/3 Falls: Masanobu Kurisu & Hiroshi Itakura & Ryuma Go & Masashi Aoyagi & Masahiko Takasugi vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Super Strong Machine & Animal Hamaguchi & Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga

9/14/90 Hiroshima Sun Plaza

Masahiro Chono & Masa Saito vs. The Great Kokina & Wild Samoan

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Big Van Vader

NJPW Handheld 8/19/90 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
-2hr 35min. Q=VG. 2 DVDs

Takayuki Iizuka vs. Osamu Matsuda

Black Cat & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Apollo Sugawara & Kantaro Hoshino

Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Kengo Kimura & Osamu Kido

Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & The Soultaker 13:04

2/3 Falls: Animal Hamaguchi & Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga & Tatsutoshi Goto & Super Strong Machine vs. Hiroshi Itakura & Masahiko Takasugi & Masanobu Kurisu & Masashi Aoyagi & Ryuma Go 20:16

IWGP Tag Team Title: Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Mike Enos & Wayne Bloom 14:27

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Pegasus Kid 15:02

IWGP Heavyweight Title: Big Van Vader vs. Riki Choshu 11:51

NJPW/AJPW Riki Choshu Genealogy of the Revolution DVD Box Set
-25hr 25min. Q=Perfect. 16 DVDs

Disc 1 New Japan Pro Wrestling

8/8/74 Ryogoku Nippon Auditorium Mitsuo Yoshida debut match: Mitsuo Yoshida vs. El Greco

3/4/77 Takasaki City Gym: World League Match: Mitsuo Yoshida vs. Robert Soto. Finish only

3/18/77 Niigata City Gym: World League Match: Mitsuo Yoshida vs. Bella Rodriguez

6/29/77 Osaka Prefectural Gym: Antonio Inoki & Riki Choshu vs. The Asian Tellows No. 1 & No. 2

6/15/79 Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium NWA North American Tag Title Match: Hiro Matsuda & Masa Saito vs. Seiji Sakaguchi & Riki Choshu. Uncut

8/2/81 Korakuen Hall: Riki Choshu vs. Roland Bock. Uncut

10/8/81 Kuramae Kokugikan: Dino Bravo & Riki Choshu vs. Stan Hansen & Hulk Hogan. Uncut

1/1/82 Korakuen Hall: Riki Choshu vs. Animal Hamaguchi. Uncut

10/8/82 Korakuen Hall: Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu vs. Abdullah The Butcher & Bad News Allen & S.D.Jones

10/22/82 Hiroshima Prefectural Gym: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu

11/4/82 Kuramae Kokugikan WWF International Heavyweight Title: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu. Uncut

2/3/83 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center: Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Masa Saito & Riki Choshu

Disc 2

4/3/83 Kuramae Kokugikan WWF International Heavyweight Title: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu. Uncut

4/21/83 Ryogoku Kokugikan WWF International Heavyweight Title: Riki Choshu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami

7/7/83 Osaka Prefectural Gym: WWF International Heavyweight Title: Riki Choshu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami. Uncut

8/4/83 Kuramae Kokugikan WWF International Heavyweight Title: Match: Riki Choshu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami. Uncut

Disc 3

8/28/83 Denen Coliseum: Tatsumi Fujinami & Akira Maeda vs. Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi

9/2/83 Fukuoka Sports Center WWF International Heavyweight Title: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu

9/21/83 Osaka Prefectural Gym: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu. Uncut

10/14/83 Osaka Prefectural Seaside Sports Center: Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs. Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi & Yoshiaki Yatsu

11/3/83 Kuramae Kokugikan Sekigun vs. Ishingun 4 vs. 4:
Riki Choshu vs. Akira Maeda. Uncut

12/2/83 Kagoshima Prefectural Gym MSG Tag League: Tatsumi Fujinami & Akira Maeda vs. Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi

1/1/84 Korakuen Hall: Tatsumi Fujinami & Akira Maeda vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu

2/3/84 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center WWF International Heavyweight Title: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu. Uncut

2/9/84 Osaka Prefectural Gym: Antonio Inoki & Akira Maeda & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi & Yoshiaki Yatsu. Uncut

Disc 4

3/16/84 Kagoshima Prefectural Gym: Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi. Uncut

3/22/84 Amagasaki City Gym: Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi & Yoshiaki Yatsu

Seiji Sakaguchi & Tatsumi Fujinami & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi & Yatsu Yoshiaki

4/18/84 Ogaki City Sports Center: Kengo Kimura & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi. Uncut

4/19/84 Kuramae Kokugikan Sekigun vs. Ishingun 5 vs. 5: Antonio Inoki vs. Riki Choshu. Uncut

6/1/84 Takamatsu Civic Cultural Center IWGP official league Match: Riki Choshu vs. Andre the Giant. Uncut

6/11/84 Aichi Gym: Masa Saito & Riki Choshu vs. Hulk Hogan & Masked Superstar. Uncut

6/14/84 Kuramae Kokugikan: Masa Saito & Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Dick Murdoch & Adrian Adonis & Ken Patera

Disc 5 All Japan Pro Wrestling

1/3/85 Korakuen Hall: Genichiro Tenryu & Motoshi Okuma vs. Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi

2/5/85 Tokyo Gym: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu & Masa Saito

3/9/85 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Bruiser Brody & Killer Brooks. Uncut

3/14/85 Aichi Gym AWA World Tag Title: The Road Warriors vs. Riki Choshu & Killer Khan. Uncut

4/23/85 Sagamihara City Gym, NWA World Heavyweight Title: Rick Flair vs. Riki Choshu. Uncut

6/2/85 Korakuen Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu & Motoshi Okuma vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu & Animal Hamaguchi. Uncut

6/4/85 Osaka Castle Hall: Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi. Uncut

Disc 6

6/5/85 Aichi Prefectural Gym: Riki Choshu vs. Tiger Jeet Singh. Uncut

6/21/85 Nippon Budokan UN Heavyweight Title: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu

8/2/85 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center: Riki Choshu & Killer Khan vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu. Uncut

10/19/85 Korakuen Hall: Riki Choshu vs. Rick Martell. Uncut

10/21/85 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Mil Mascaras & Art Cruise. Uncut

Disc 7

11/4/85 Osaka Castle Hall: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Riki Choshu. Uncut

11/23/85 Korakuen Hall World's Strongest Tag League:
Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Rusher Kimura & Ashura Hara. Uncut

11/27/85 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center: Riki Choshu vs. Ted DiBiase. Uncut

11/30/85 Yokohama Cultural Gym, World Strongest Tag
Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu

Disc 8

12/4/85 Fukuoka International Center: Riki Choshu vs. Nick Bockwinkle

12/7/85 Yamagata Prefectural Gym, World Strongest Tag League: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Harley Race & Jesse Barr

12/12/85 Nippon Budokan World's Strongest Tag League: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase

1/1/86 Korakuen Hall, Martial Arts Match: Riki Choshu vs. Tom Magee. Uncut

1/28/86 Tokyo Gym, International Tag Title: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genryu Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu Class. Uncut

Disc 9

2/5/86 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center International Tag Title: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu. Uncut

3/13/1986 Nippon Budokan All Japan vs. Japan Pro 6 vs. 6: Tiger Mask vs. Riki Choshu

4/5/86 Yokohama Cultural Gym, AWA & PWF Double Title: Stan Hansen vs. Riki Choshu. Uncut

4/12/86 Kumamoto Gym: PWF World Tag Title: Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu. Uncut

4/26/86 Nippon-Omiya Skate Center AWA & PWF Double Title: Stan Hansen (AWA) vs. Riki Choshu (PWF). Uncut

Disc 10

5/17/86 Yokosuka City Gym, PWF Heavyweight Title: Riki Choshu vs. Terry Gordy. Uncut

6/12/86 Nippon Budokan International Tag Title: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. The Road Warriors. Uncut

7/21/86 Fukuoka Sports Center International Tag Title: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Killer Khan & Super Strong Machine. Uncut

Disc 11

9/3/86 Osaka Castle Hall: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu. Uncut

9/9/86 Aichi Prefectural Gym, PWF & International Double Title: Riki Choshu (PWF) vs. Stan Hansen (International). Uncut

9/20/86 Sagamihara City Gym: Riki Choshu vs. Super Strong Machine. Uncut

10/21/86 Ryogoku Kokugikan PWF Heavyweight Title: Riki Choshu vs. Terry Funk. Uncut

10/27/86 Niigata City Gym: International Tag Title: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu. Uncut

Disc 12

12/6/86 Takamatsu Civic Cultural Center World's Strongest Tag: Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu & Chosho Yatsu. Uncut

12/12/86 Nippon Budokan World's Strongest Tag: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. The Funks. Uncut

1/24/87 Yokohama Cultural Gym: International Tag Title: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu. Uncut

2/5/87 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center International Tag Title: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genryu Tenryu

Disc 13 New Japan Pro Wrestling

6/12/87 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Osamu Kido & Nobuhiko Takada vs. Riki Choshu & Super Strong Machine & Kuniaki Kobayashi. Uncut

8/19/87 Ryogoku Kokugikan Now Leader vs. New Leader 5 vs. 5 elimination match: Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi & Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kantaro Hoshino & Keiji Muto vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu & Akira Maeda & Kengo Kimura & Super Strong Machine. Uncut

8/20/87 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Antonio Inoki & Keiji Muto vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu

10/5/87 Korakuen Hall: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu

10/19/87 Fuji City Yoshihara Gym: Antonio Inoki & Keiichi Yamada vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu. Uncut

10/19/87 Fuji City Yoshiwara Gym: Antonio Inoki vs. Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami. Uncut

10/25/87 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu

11/19/87 Korakuen Hall: Riki Choshu & Masa Saito & Hiro Saito vs. Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido & Nobuhiko Takada. Uncut

Disc 14

12/27/87 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs. Masa Saito & Riki Choshu

12/27/87 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Antonio Inoki vs. Riki Choshu. Uncut

7/22/88 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center, IWGP Heavyweight Title League Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Riki Choshu

2/22/89 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Antonio Inoki vs. Riki Choshu

12/6/89 Osaka Prefectural Gym, World Cup Conflict League Tournament Semifinal: Riki Choshu vs. Masahiro Chono. Uncut

12/7/89 Ryogoku Kokugikan World Cup Conflict League Final: Riki Choshu vs. Shinya Hashimoto. Uncut

5/24/90 Tokyo Bay NK Hall Choshu vs. 3 Musketeers Single Match Series: Riki Choshu vs. Keiji Muto

8/19/90 Ryogoku Kokugikan, IWGP Heavyweight Title: Big Van Vader vs. Riki Choshu. Uncut

1/4/92 Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight & Greatest 18 Club Title: Tatsuji Fujinami (IWGP) vs. Riki Choshu (Greatest 18)

Disc 15

1/4/93 Tokyo Dome: Riki Choshu vs. Genichiro Tenryu. Uncut

4/6/93 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Riki Choshu vs. Genichiro Tenryu. Uncut

1/4/94 Tokyo Dome: Riki Choshu vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara. Uncut

5/1/94 Fukuoka Dome: Riki Choshu vs. Hiroshi Hase

7/18/95 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Riki Choshu

9/23/95 Yokohama Arena: Riki Choshu & Yuji Nagata & Yoji Anjo & Tatsuo Nakano. Uncut

10/9/95 Tokyo Dome: Riki Choshu vs. Yoji Anjo

Disc 16

8/6/96 Ryogoku Kokugikan G1 Climax: Riki Choshu vs. Masahiro Chono. Uncut

1/4/97 Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Title: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Riki Choshu. Uncut

1/4/98 Tokyo Dome Riki Choshu Retirement Match: Uncut
Riki Choshu vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
Riki Choshu vs. Yutaka Yoshie
Riki Choshu vs. Takaiwa Tatsuhito
Riki Choshu vs. Takashi Iizuka
Riki Choshu vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

7/30/00 Yokohama Arena No Rope Barbed Wire Current Bomb Death Match: Riki Choshu vs. Atsushi Onita. Uncut

NJPW Handheld 9/7/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
-2hr 20min. Q=VG. 1 DVD

Black Cat vs. Osamu Matsuda

Kengo Kimura vs. Tatsutoshi Goto

Higo Hamiguchi & Super Strong Machine vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase

Brad Rheignans vs. Osamu Kido

Pegasus Kid & Hiro Saito vs. Takayuki Iizuka & Jushin Thunder Liger

Great Kokina & Wild Samoan vs. Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto

Masanobu Kurisu vs. Riki Choshu

Masahiro Chono vs. Big Van Vader

Shiro Koshinaka vs. The Great Muta

NJPW Explosion Tour 1990 #2 Handheld 9/8/90 Tokushima City Gym
-1hr 45min. Q=Gd-VG

Black Cat vs. Takayuki Iizuka

Osamu Matsuda vs. Kantaro Hoshino

Osamu Kido vs. Apollo Sugawara

Super Strong Machine & Pegasus Kid vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki

Jushin Thunder Liger & Shiro Koshinaki & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Brad Rhennigans

Masa Saito & Kengo Kimura vs. Steve Williams & Masanobu Kurisu

Riki Chosu & Keiji Muto & Masa Chono vs. Big Van Vader & Great Kokina & Wild Samoan

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #152 5/9/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

9/14/90 Hiroshima Sun Plaza

Riki Choshu & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Takayuki Iizuka

Hiroshi Hase vs. The Great Muta

9/30/90 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena

IWGP Junior Title Next Challenger Decision Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Villano V

Exhibition Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Shiro Koshinaka

NJPW The Great Muta Complete DVD Box Set
-11hr 40min. Q=Perfect. 5 DVDs

Disc 1 Birth of Muta

9/14/90 Hiroshima Sun Plaza: Great Muta vs. Hiroshi Hase. Although it was a technically excellent match with with virtually perfect execution and great flow with so many counter holds, it's mainly memorable for Hase bleeding buckets and really milking the blood loss for all it was worth when he was selling. If it wasn't for the crappy American finish, this might have been an excellent match. ***3/4

9/30/90 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena: Great Muta vs. Ricky Steamboat. This should have been a lot better, but their styles didn't mesh well. Good technically due to Steamboat, but kinda dull. Outside of Muta working over Steamboat's "injured knee," there wasn't a lot of direction. **1/4

3/21/91 Tokyo Dome: Great Muta vs. Sting. Muta's entrance was awesome, but they had better matches in the US. Muta looked really good on offense and made the match, but it dragged when Sting was on offense. The length would suggest a sprint, which could have been a good thing considering Sting was involved, but instead they did too many rest holds. **1/2

7/19/91 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Great Muta & TNT vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase. Muta was more heelish here, resulting in Hase doing another huge blade job. The match was only good when Hase was in, although that is a little unfair because Muta mainly worked with Hase. **

8/25/91: Great Muta vs. Super Strong Machine. These guys could have had a damn good match, but Muta was in slow and deliberate mode and there wasn't much of note here aside from Muta ripping Machine's mask off for the DQ. *1/4

9/23/91 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena: Great Muta vs. Tatsumi Fujinami. Muta mainly brawled, dominating Fujinami and making him bleed. Fujinami gave a good performance, resulting in this being better than the typical Muta match. ***

1/4/92 Tokyo Dome: Great Muta & Sting vs. Steiner Brothers. Another awesome Muta ring entrance. Short match, but fast-paced and exciting Steiner style spotfest. All the big moves. ***3/4

Disc 2 Muta vs. Monster

9/23/92 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena IWGP Heavyweight & Greatest 18 Club Double Title Match: The Great Muta vs. Shinya Hashimoto. Stiff match, but slow-paced and deliberate. Muta did too much of his heel routine, and really didn't do much to put Hashimoto over. Hashimoto wasn't that great at this time, but I still expected a lot better than this.

12/14/92 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Great Muta vs. Hiroshi Hase. The thing that made this special was that the backbone of the match was stuff not commonly done in NJ rings, and even though it wasn't their standard fair, they did it so well. The match was simplistic, but what they did was done right and done in a way that made it meaningful and effective. Hase played heel here, and was able to pull it off because he was so aggressive and went all out to try to score the upset over his rival. The thing that stood out the most was that Muta did one of the sickest blade jobs ever, which got over the story of the match and was key toward Hase getting over as a heel. ****1/2

1/4/93 Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavykyu & NWA World Heavyweight Double Title Match: Great Muta vs. Masa Chono. This should have been an excellent match, but failed to reach that level because they didn't take the time to figure out why they were doing things. This was vintage Muta, mailing it in for a useless first half then turning it on for an excellent second half. The first half was wasted because they didn't really do anything to advance the match. The second half was really good with a lot of big moves, although only the moonsault and STF really had any meaning. Overall, this was toned down some spot wise and they didn't try to do anything to compensate, but they were still talented and healthy enough that they had a very good match anyway. ***1/2

5/3/93 Fukuoka Dome: Great Muta vs. Hulk Hogan. Hogan worked a lot harder than normal, but still wasn't good. Muta worked a lot harder than usual to make it passable. He looked good in points, but they both stalled too much. Typical ridiculous Hogan finish. *1/2

9/23/93 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena: Hulk Hogan & Great Muta vs. Hellraisers. You know you are in trouble when Muta is by far the best of the bunch. A bunch of rest holds. Hogan vs. Hawk was particularly awful. 3/4*

Disc 3 Revenge of Muta

6/15/93 Budokan IWGP Heavyweight Title: Great Muta vs. The Great Kabuki 11:41

4/4/94 Hiroshima Green Arena: Great Muta & Masahiro Chono vs. Riki Choshu & Genichiro Tenryu

9/23/94 Yokohama Arena: Masahiro Chono vs. Great Muta 19:40

4/29/96 Tokyo Dome: Great Muta vs. Jinsei Shinzaki 19:44

1/4/97 Tokyo Dome: Power Warrior vs. Great Muta 16:09

The Great Muta SFX making scene

Disc 4 Changing into nWo Muta

2/16/97 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Great Muta vs. Shiro Koshinaka 12:43

8/3/97 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Great Muta vs. Lord Steven Regal 6:40

8/10/97 Nagoya Dome Martial Arts Match: Great Muta vs. Naoya Ogawa 6:39

9/13/97 Gunma Arena: Great Muta vs. Tadao Yasuda 11:07

9/23/97 Nippon Budokan: Great Muta & Masahiro Chono vs. Kazuo Yamazaki & Kensuke Sasaki 17:56

8/8/98 Osaka Dome: Great Muta & The Great Kabuki vs. Michiyoshi Ohara & Tatsutoshi Goto 10:33

8/28/98 Meiji Jingu Stadium No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Barricade Explosive Land Mine Double Hell Death: Great Muta vs. Great Nita 13:32

4/7/00 Tokyo Dome Masahiro Chono vs. Great Muta 16:21

5/5/00 Fukuoka Dome IWGP Heavyweight Title: Power Warrior vs. Great Muta 12:44

Disc 5 Special Edition Battle-0

4/7/94 Kumamoto City Gym: Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Great Muta & Hiroshi Hase 6:19

5/1/94 Fukuoka Dome INOKI FINAL COUNTDOWN 1st: Antonio Inoki vs. Great Muta 20:12

4/12/97 Tokyo Dome: Great Muta vs. Masahiro Chono

7/6/97 Makomanai Ice Arena: Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Great Muta & Masahiro Chono 12:38

8/1/97 Ryogoku Kokugikan G1 Climax 1997 First Round: Great Muta vs. Manabu Nakanishi 10:25

9/20/97 Aichi Prefectural Gym G1 Climax Special Tag Tournament Final: Kazuo Yamazaki & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Great Muta & Hiroyoshi Tenzan 15:21

9/16/01 Rainbow Hall: Hakushi & Kokushi Muso vs. Masahiro Chono & Mike Barton 14:45

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #153 5/10/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

9/30/90 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena

Masahiro Chono vs. TNT

Great Muta vs. Ricky Steamboat

10/25/90 Green Dome Maebashi

Tiger Jeet Singh vs. Big Van Vader

Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi

NJPW Fighting Spirit 1990 #6 Handheld 10/11/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
-1hr 50min. Q=Gd

Kengo Kimura vs. TNT

Masa Saito vs. Miguel Perez Jr.

Takayuki Iizuka & Osamu Matsuda vs. Apollo Sugawara & Black Cat

Hiro Saito vs. Masanobu Kurisu

Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto & Norio Honaga vs. Osamu Kido & Kantaro Hoshino & Kuniaki Kobayashi

Jushin Thunder Liger & Owen Hart vs. Pegasus Kid & Villiano V

Riki Chosu & Shinya Hashimoto & Ricky Steamboat vs. Big Van Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow & Animal Hamaguchi

Keiji Muto & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #154 6/7/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

1/90 Chiba Koen Taiikukan: Keiji Muto & Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono vs. Big Van Vader & The Soultaker & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow

10/25/90 Green Dome Maebashi

Jushin Thunder Liger & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Masashi Aoyagi & Masahiko Takasugi

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Larry Cameron

Kensuke Sasaki vs. Masahiro Chono

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #155 6/10/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

10/90 Green Dome Maebashi: Hiroshi Hase vs. Keiji Muto 15:49

10/29/90 Mie Yokkaichi Civic Gymnasium

Jushin Thunder Liger & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Hiro Saito & Pegasus Kid

Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto

Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Masanobu Kurisu

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #156 6/16/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

10/29/90

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Animal Hamaguchi

Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Saito vs. Big Van Vader & Larry Cameron & Bad News Brown

11/28/90 Fukuoka Hakata Starlanes

Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Saito

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ryuma Go

NJPW Handheld 10/31/90 Niigata
-1hr 40min. Q=VG

Black Cat vs. Michiyoshi Ohara

Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Takayuki Iizuka

Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Shiro Koshinaka

Pegasus Kid vs. Osamu Matsuda

Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto

Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Masanobu Kurisu & Tiger Jeet Singh

Kengo Kimura & Masa Saito & Osamu Kido vs. Bad News Brown & Big Van Vader & Larry Cameron

NJ Tadakai No Wonderland ~Chosenshi Gekiko Hen~ #416
& NJ Tadakai No Wonderland ~Chosenshi Gekiko Hen~ #417
- 1hr 45min. Q=Ex

Wonderland #416

10/29/90: Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Masanobu Kurisu

11/1/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan

Tiger Jeet Singh vs. Tatsumi Fujinami 9:19

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Riki Choshu vs. Shinya Hashimoto 16:14. The exceptional aspect of Choshu & to a far greater extent Hashimoto's heavyweight title reigns was not so much what they did, but the feeling that you were seeing an important, heated, desperate battle that really mattered. Even in it's time, this wasn't an amazing match from a technical or offensive standpoint, that's not their thing, and thankfully they didn't try to follow the exciting spectacle of Liger/Pegasus & Hase & Sasaki/Muto/Chono in the same fashion. Instead, they did their very basic efficient & effective match that built slowly, ultimately adding up to an intense and meaningful fight. Hashimoto was 25 at the time, and looking to become the first wrestler of his generation to unseat the old guard of Inoki/Fujinami/Choshu for the heavyweight title. He injured Choshu's left knee with a low kick early, and the match kept going back to that. It wasn't simply knee work, but a larger story of Hashimoto being younger, bigger, stronger, fiercer, etc. and at full faculties. He won their previous meeting & was dominating today's match both in standup & on the ground, so there was no reason he couldn't finally surpass Choshu, especially this wounded, hampered version who kept getting up slowly because his body was consistently betraying him. Consequently, this isn't one of Choshu's faster, more energetic matches, which normally would not be a good thing as Choshu's energy was his best attribute in his heyday, but made total sense given the injury storyline. They instead do a lot of slow, UWF leaning quasi shoot style work that's more credible than the usual pro wrestling, but would obviously look very half-assed once the UFC came around a few years later (though that still hasn't got many wrestlers to leave their vacuum & actually work more credibly). I couldn't fault anyone for finding the match boring, but at the same time, wrestling is an illusion, and a match like this is specifically successful because it so successfully gives the appearance of being a big desperate generational struggle for what they'd have us believe is the most prestigious strap in the sport. The illusion is that Hashimoto is just brutalizing the champion with his kicks, and although Choshu can use his guile from time to time, it's more his willpower & determination that keeps him in there for what ultimately seems to be a further beating. The highlight of the match comes after Choshu rope escapes Hashimoto's rear naked choke but Hashimoto keeps preventing him from getting back up by standing over him & blasting him with kicks. Finally Choshu catches a kick & kicks Hashimoto in the hamstring a few times then bounces off the rope & straight up decks him with a wicked closed fist to the jaw. Hashimoto tumbles to the canvas like he's KO'd, but Choshu also does a great job of putting it over, immediately grabbing his hand & flexing his wrist. Choshu doesn't care that he might break his hand if he already hasn't, he drops Hashimoto with a second punch as soon as he gets up then starts putting the boots to him. This was one of the absolute great comebacks I've ever seen because Choshu had to do something he normally wouldn't, and was breachng etiquette in the process, stooping if you will, but the title was more important than the rules, and nothing else was working. Normally I'm not a fan of the old challenger dominates then falls to 2 moves script, but this was actually the only finish that made sense given the story they were telling. This was an absolute war, it was violent, fierce, & heartless. The important thing is ending the war by any and/or all means possible, and Choshu did that. Hash gave Choshu his best shots for 15 minutes but more or less played fair, so Choshu reverted to a couple closed fist cheap shots, BAM, KO! Then you give people the idea that maybe Hashimoto should have stooped instead/first, or maybe Choshu can't beat Hashimoto in a fair fight, it's all a matter of perspective, but that kind of thing makes heroes & villians, and more importantly gives good reason for rematches. Certainly, nothing Choshu was going to do was going to top those 2 vicious shots, and they were perfectly within the theme of the fight. Having Choshu go through his regular offensive routine with Tiger Hattori fondling his butt so he didn't fall off the top rope doing his superplex was very apart from the rest of the match and certainly didn't add anything, & it's really tedious that NJ champs from Hogan to Choshu to Sasaki to Okada have to win with some version of simple lariat, but wrestling has yet to get that it's the ability to knock the opponent out rather than the repitition of a particular pattern that's interesting. In any case, Choshu, again, proved his storyline worth with another amazing comeback on the back of his trusty lariat, once again thwarting Hashimoto by snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Though Hashimoto gave an excellent performance & looked more than ready here, he wouldn't actually win this title for another 3 years, and it was Muta that succeeded in leading his generation over Choshu in Choshu's subsequent title run. ***3/4

#417

10/29/90: Jushin Thunder Liger & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Hiro Saito & Pegasus Kid

11/1/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan

11/1/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Pegasus Kid vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 12:32. Liger vs. Pegasus shifts toward Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid in this exceptional, explosive sprint that put the Sano era to rest and ushered in the new era where you marked the upcoming Liger vs. Pegasus match on your calendar. Probably the best offensive match the junior division produced all year, delivering an exceptional mix of great brutal power with big suplexes off the ropes and spectacular flying, capped by Liger’s breathtaking shooting star press. The fans had really taken to Liger by this point, going nuts anytime his opponent was on the floor because they knew some amazing dive was on its way. Though the briefest IWGP Junior title change until the rightfully short Koji Kanemoto over Norio Honaga 2/19/95, they tested their now razor sharp reactions with one highly developed counter sequence after another. They got me all stoked when Pegasus came right out establishing the kamikaze mode that helped make the Sano matches come off as a life and death struggle, but after the guerrilla press over the top followed by the suicidal missile kick to the floor, they followed with the brief mat portion then began attempting all their big spots. It was some of the greatest work of the year to be certain, but they didn’t really develop any story or address the rivalry in any way, so as impressive as it was it seemed a bit empty compared to the Liger/Sano finale. That being said, while both would become much better storytellers in the next few years, and thus those matches probably have aged better, the beauty of their in ring speed, grace, & athleticism was at it's pinnacle here. I’d rate this slightly higher than their 8/19/90 match because their added familiarity allows them to further develop the sequences from a hold/counterhold perspective, but it's too short & one-dimensional to bump up to 4 3/4*. ****1/2

IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki 16:56. This has been one of those Holy Grail matches to me. I saw the Liger/Pegasus match on the 1st Liger compilation I got when I started watching puroresu in 1992 after being blown away by Liger/Pillman SuperBrawl II 2/29/92 match like nothing I'd ever seen before. Though not the best match on the comp (Liger/Sano 1/31/90), it was clearly a better match than Liger/Pillman, the way they were able to work together, the sequences they developed & crispness of the work were simply superior & although a spotfest, it was extremely well organized & choreographed. I got the original TV show in a trade in the mid 90's, but the quality was so bad I never bothered watching it then finally theroetically got a proper copy of the complete classics version cerca 2008, except my friend accidentally took the sharpie to the data side of the disk instead! So here I am 25 years later, finally sitting down to watch what's often been named as one of the best, if not the best NJ tag of the 1990's, and my reaction is quite simply WTF??? This is a great TV show, one of NJ's best of the decade, which makes the love for this match all the more perplexing as from a technical perspective, it doesn't even hang with the Liger/Pegasus match, & from a story perspective, well, it really doesn't tell one, so it's blown away by Choshu/Hashimoto. It's a fun half of a match that I'm sure would seem like an excellent sprint with the right edit, but it just meanders for the 1st half then picks up some, but never develops any substantial drama because there's no real organization or logic going on. The crowd is great, and definitely makes the match seem a hell of a lot better than it is, but ultimately, there's just a bunch of random unconnected sequences where they do a running move or two, grab a body part & rest, get up & do a move, tag, wash/rinse/repeat. There's maybe 8 minutes of pretty good action when they're not grabbing a rest hold, 2 minutes of good action when Sasaki then Hase picks it up with Chono, then 6 minutes of very good to excellent action, still without any real phychology or substance but with a crowd that's going wild for anything flashy they do so it somewhat doesn't matter . Generally Sasaki was by far the worst of these 4 in the '90's but by far the best in the '00's, but he was rather green & inconsistent in his days with Hase to the point that Hase normally took 2/3 to 3/4 of the match, and was almost a one man show. However, today Sasaki was actually the best of the 4, and the only one who really seemed to be trying to amp things up & move things in some kind of direction. Hase's performance was actually well below his average of the tag title matches in this run. He's still the 2nd best just on his talent alone, but there's way too much submission work going nowhere, and just no consistency to advance a match that simply never comes together. I don't want to bag the match, it was really enjoyable in a vacuum, but rather than being the NJ heavyweights actually make good as I was always led to believe (this doesn't hold a candle to the high end AJ tag of the season Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada 9/30/90), it reminded me a lot more of AJ's Asia Tag Matches of the period, which since AJ didn't push the junior division tended to feature guys who worked in the heavyweight division but had more of a junior flair & orientation to them. If we compare this match to an Asia Tag Title Match that AJ put on in the same arena just 2 months earlier, Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton vs. Joe Malenko & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 9/1/90, I don't think there's even one technical aspect where Muto & Chono/Hase & Sasaki is comparably close. All that being said, this was a memorable show for NJ because the new generation were all realizing their potential. Outside of Choshu, everyone in the 3 title matches was in their mid 20's, and this was a night when you saw that they should go on to fulfill their promise. Hase & Sasaki were ranked considerably lower than Muto & Chono, Hase having graduated from the jr. division & Sasaki debuting 2 years after Muto & Chono. The crowd was into the idea of the upset, but this was never worked to develop any kind of new generation rivalry. The closest they came was Muto coming in taking free kicks when Chono was in the scorpion. He broke Hase's scorpion this way, but Sasaki just absorbed kick after kick until he had enough & released the hold so he could slap Muto into his place! These were the kind of spots I wanted to see more of, but there was actually almost an odd dynamic where Sasaki would try to take things up a notch, but Muto & Chono wouldn't necessarily respond, for instance, Chono taking a bunch of hard slaps to the face from Sasaki, and just selling them as he'd sell any other move that didn't offend him, and moving on. Chono did start off promisingly with Sasaki, but after the opening sequence, mostly didn't seem to want to take the bait, & Muto was basically just doing what Muto likes to do, as usual. Muto had a good work ethic in these days, & mixed his very ahead of his time athletic heavyweight offense in with his meaningless matwork & straight up rest holds. If this was truly a go go joshi style match, he & it would have been considerably more interesting, especially considering they weren't actually developing a match anyway, but this was more doing enough to keep the match going in stops & starts until they finally kicked into high gear, knowing that NJ always edited the matches for TV so they'd find the that point where the action picked up to give the audience the illusion of it being amazing. The finish was good in the sense that it looked like the expected result, Muto wins with the moonsault but was actually the upset result. I actually didn't mind that it was kind of out of nowhere, as Sasaki lariating Muto when he was complaining to the ref about a slow count when Hase kicked out of his moonsault was the kind of good thing Sasaki brought to this match, and if it were legit a lariat you didn't see coming would be devastating, so Hase then pinning Muto in his Northern Lights suplex finisher worked for me. ***1/2

NJPW Handheld 11/7/90 Iwade Town Gym
-1hr 20min. Q=Gd-VG

Michiyoshi Ohara vs. Koji Kanemoto

Kensuke Sasaki vs. Black Cat

Osamu Kido vs. Tatsutoshi Goto

Kengo Kimura vs. Masanobu Kurisu

Jushin Thunder Liger & Osamu Matsuda vs. Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono

Shinya Hashimoto & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Super Strong Machine & Norio Honaga

Shiro Koshinaka & Takayuki Iizuka & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Riki Choshu 10:13

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #157 6/20/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

11/28/90 Fukuoka Hakata Starlanes

Masanobu Kurisu vs. Hiro Saito

Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto

12/3/90 Baghdad Iraq: Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki

12/7/90 Kanagawa

Jushin Thunder Liger & Takayuki Iizuka & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga

Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Andrei Sulsaev & Chimur Zarasov

NJ World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #158 7/7/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

12/7/90 Kanagawa

Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Masa Saito & Kuniaki Kobayashi

Riki Choshu & Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase vs. Brad Rheingans & Bad News Brown & Scott Norton

12/11/90 Nagoya Rainbow Hall

Masa Saito vs. Scott Norton

Keiji Muto vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow

IWGP Tag Title Match: Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto

NJPW World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #159 7/12/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

12/11/90 Nagoya Rainbow Hall: Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Riki Choshu & Osamu Kido & Kuniaki Kobayashi 11:43. With Fujinami, Koshinaka, Iizuka, & Kobayashi you basically had a who’s who of (former) juniors who are quick and willing to push the pace, but don't possess great offense. Choshu isn't as athletic, but bursts of energy define his heavyweight tag style. The offense was expectedly pretty basic, but the pace could have been a little better, especially since the match was on the short side. The heat was on Fujinami vs. Choshu, and they worked with each other enough to content the crowd, with Kobayashi, Iizuka & Koshinaka doing most of the running around. A decent effort and match, but nothing substantial. **

12/13/90 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

Masa Saito vs. Ax Demolition 6:05. There wasn’t even an instance of skill on display in this WWF style match where Ax kept escaping to the floor for breathers, 6 minutes being a real iron man challenge and all. The match finally started when Saito went to the floor too for some brawling then they did some more punches in the ring and it mercifully ended soon after that. DUD

Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Bad News Brown 13:18. A huge disappointment. Muto & Chono weren’t bad, they simply had little opportunity to do anything useful since Bad News was in full WWF street fighter gimmick and Bigelow was choosing to be lazy and join in the punching and headbutting. The gaijins were on the offensive for 85% of the match, with Muto & Chono mainly standing around waiting to get hit. As the match was merely striking, and they weren’t even exchanging strikes, it was incredibly methodical with no timing or flow. There was one good spot where Bad News hit his ghetto blaster on Muto but chose to taunt, allowing Chono to sneak up from behind with one of his own, but that was about it. *

IWGP Tag Title Match: Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Takayuki Iizuka 21:11. Could look like an excellent match with the right editing, but the structuring was somewhat crude and it took too long to get going. The majority of the match was disappointing, technically sound and certainly not bad but rather slow and not particularly intense. The main theme was Iizuka working on Hase’s knee, but without much in the way of a transition, they dropped the matwork and picked the pace up five notches, exchanging signature spots. Almost all the NJPW matches of this period had finishes that were much faster paced and more spot oriented than the rest of the match, and the crowd was really hot for this final portion. It's not that it wasn't quite good, but it was one of the most offensive examples of the general problem with the promotions matches of the period in that it really had little to do with the rest of the match. ***

NJPW Battle Final 1990 30th Tokon Memorial Rainbow Festival Handheld 12/11/90 Nagoya Rainbow Hall
-2hr 45min. Q=VG. 1 DVD

IWGP Tag Team Title: Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto 13:28

Kuniaki Kobayashi & Osamu Kido & Riki Choshu vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Takayuki Iizuka & Tatsumi Fujinami 11:41

Michiyoshi Ohara vs. Koji Kanemoto

Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga vs. Kantaro Hoshino & Osamu Matsuda

Animal Hamaguchi & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Masanobu Kurisu & Masashi Aoyagi

Brad Rheingans & Ray Apollo vs. Andrei Sulsaev & Timur Zalasov

Kengo Kimura vs. Bad News Brown

Masahiro Chono vs. Steve Williams

Scott Norton vs. Masa Saito 6:00

Keiji Muto vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow 9:09

NJ Tadakai no Wonderland ~Jushin Thunder Liger Hen #5~ 5/7/00
& NJ Tadakai no Wonderland ~Jushin Thunder Liger Hen #6~ 5/14/00
-1hr 50min. Q=TV Master

Wonderland Liger #5

3/19/90 Hiroshima Kenritsu Taiikukan IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Pegasus Kid

2/5/91 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. David "Fit" Finlay

8/19/90 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Pegasus Kid

Wonderland Liger #6

9/30/90 Yokohama Arena Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Villano V

11/1/90 Tokyo Nippon Budokan IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Pegasus Kid vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

12/26/90 IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Negro Casas

NJPW World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #186 4/2/07
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

12/26/90 Hamamatsu Arena

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Negro Casas. Joined in progress

Keiji Muto vs. Tiger Jeet Singh

Lou Thesz vs. Masahiro Chono

Masa Saito vs. Nick Bockwinkel

IWGP Tag Title Match: Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito

NJPW World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #187 4/11/07
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

12/26/90 Hamamatsu Arena

Martial Arts Match 3Min 10Rd: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Tony Halme

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Riki Choshu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami

11/91 Matsumoto-shi Sogo Taiikukan

Kantaro Hoshino vs. Masayoshi Aoyagi

Masa Saito & Osamu Kido & Kengo Kimura vs. Kim Duk & Masanobu Kurisu & Hot Shot

NJPW WPW 12/26/90 taped 12/26/90 Hamamatsu Arena
-1hr 45min. Q=VG

IWGP Jr. Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Negro Casas

Keiji Muto vs. Tiger Jeet Singh

Masahiro Chono vs. Lou Thesz

Masa Saito vs. Nick Bockwinkle

IWGP Tag Title: Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito

Martial Arts Match 3Min 10Rd: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Tony Halme

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Riki Choshu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami

NJPW World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #160 7/18/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

12/13/90 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan: Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs. Riki Choshu & Osamu Kido 16:13. A Choshu match needs to be inspired because its primary strengths are energy, emotion, and intensity. There was a little interplay and hatred, with Kimura & Choshu getting into it at the outset, but as a whole, this one wasn’t. so they weren’t able to make you forget how basic it was. Everyone was okay, but it was all rather standard. *3/4

taped 1/4/91 Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito 14:24. Muto & Chono were fairly motivated, and the match got off to a good start with the duo dominating Saito. Saito selling is never a particularly good thing, but he also has by far the worst offense in the match, which is usually the case if he's not teaming with Goto, so even though you can’t win with him, at least Muto & Chono were on the move. The match slowed considerably in the middle with some kneework on Chono leading to his hot tag, where Muto did a whole two moves before letting Chono close it out. No one was anywhere near outstanding, but they were all on and into making it an acceptable match. **1/2

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Matthew Rambo 4:35. Despite it being a total throwaway, they didn’t seem to consider mailing it in. Rambo leans toward the awkward and clumsy side, but made a genuine effort, and Fujinami was showing some fire. It was far from the most graceful work, but it was passable. Fujinami seemed poised for the quick win when Vader snuck in behind him and broke up his Dragon sleeper. Vader wasn’t helping Rambo, who he soon knocked to the floor with a lariat, but rather wanted to get a headstart on his heavyweight title match with Fujinami on 3/4/91.

Riki Choshu & Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Big Van Vader & TNT & Mark Laurinaitis 8:35. Great booking, using an insubstantial small show match to advance the feuds and set up the big matches. Because it was done so well, it seemed important and as if you’d actually seen something, when neither was really the case. Not great wrestling by any means, but extremely effective because they had a firm grasp of how to play up the rivalries the audience cared about. There was tremendous heat on Vader vs. the natives, which they exploited from pre match to post match. Vader pretty much made the match, having intense if not overly stiff exchanges with Hashimoto & Choshu. No one cared about his partners, but the reaction to even wobbling Vader was impressive. Vader’s team lost, but he was still ready to have a go at any or all of the natives afterwards, and Fujinami wound up jumping Vader this time and brawling around the arena with him. It’s hard to rate this match because it wasn’t good or complete in any traditional manner, but it was so heated and intense when Vader was in that you were riveted throughout. ***

2/5/91 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. David “Fit” Finlay 9:27. An odd and disappointing match. They didn’t seem to have much timing or chemistry when they did work together, so after a couple off spots Finlay seemed to avoid sequences and counters as much as possible. They ultimately did so few spots where they actually worked together Finlay might as well have been wrestled a doll for the first 8 minutes. Finlay totally dominated Liger, stomping his hands and attacked his joints. His offense was precise rather than stiff. It was okay, but he didn’t do anything that was really impressive or brutal. The match got a little better at the end when Liger finally offered something in return, but they still didn’t seem to have a feel for one another. **

NJPW Super February 1991 #2 Handheld 2/2/91 Sakata City Gym
-1hr 40min. Q=VG

Koji Kanemoto vs. Hiroyoshi Yamamoto 10:49

Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Black Cat 8:49

Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Kengo Kimura & Osamu Kido 11:45

Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga & Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Kantaro Hoshino & Masashi Aoyagi & Osamu Matsuda & Shiro Koshinaka 13:03

Dave Finlay & Pegasus Kid vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Takayuki Iizuka 11:08

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Franz Schuhmann 4:23

Masa Saito & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Masanobu Kurisu & Tiger Jeet Singh 8:26

Ax Demolition & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Scott Norton vs. Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono & Riki Choshu 8:39

NJPW World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #161 8/15/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

2/5/91 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center

Keiji Muto vs. Ax Demolition

Scott Norton vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Osamu Kido

Riki Choshu vs. Tiger Jeet Singh

3/6/91 Nagasaki Kokusai Taiikukan: Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Big Van Vader & Bad News Allen

NJPW Wonderland ~ Shinni Strongest Foreigners Story~ #1 Dusty Rhodes 10/22/02
NJPW Wonderland ~ Shinni Strongest Foreigners Story~ #6 Dusty Rhodes 11/26/02
-1hr 40min. Q=TV Master

#1

10/14/73 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, 2/3 Falls: Lou Thesz & Karl Gotch vs. Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi

Wonderland Foreigners #6 Dusty Rhodes

12/10/80 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Dusty Rhodes vs. Tiger Jeet Singh

2/9/82 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Dusty Rhodes vs. Abdullah The Butcher

6/4/81 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan: Dusty Rhodes & Bob Backlund vs. Bobby Duncum & Sgt. Slaughter

4/1/82 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan: Dusty Rhodes & Dick Murdock vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu

NJPW World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #162 8/25/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

3/6/91 Nagasaki, IWGP Tag Title Match: Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki 19:15. A fired up Hase gave a top notch performance, showing some of the best offense in the NJPW heavyweight division, doing an excellent job of depicting how his physical condition was effecting his wrestling, and generally keeping the fans into a match they had some reason to be frustrated with. Unfortunately, Hase didn’t get that much help, as Machine & Saito seemed to specialize in killing time. Though they ultimately transitioned from there into an effective attack on Sasaki’s knee, they relied way too heavily on filler such as brawling strikes and non threatening submissions. Hase managed to make the ordinary dramatic, and eventually the other three began to wrestle with conviction. Unfortunately, this didn’t occur until Sasaki’s hot tag, which was practically the end of the match. If Machine or even Sasaki would have wrestled with more fervor, it could have been damn good, rather than merely meeting the acceptable level. ***

3/4/91 Hiroshima Sun Plaza, IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Big Van Vader vs. Tatsumi Fujinami 3:37 of 13:14. They seemed to bring their A game for this one, stepping up the pace and giving highly motivated performances. The fans bought into their emotion, as well as the high quality of the match, or at least going nuts for the finishing sequence. I enjoyed the style Fujinami employed against the Big man, vaulting his body at him with running and jumping attacks to put him down and then working for an arm submission. Fujinami’s left knee was injured before they joined the match, so Fujinami was hopping around when he ran the ropes, but Vader wasn’t attacking it anymore, as he'd moved on to his finishers. He was just using his size and strength to maul Fujinami when he could catch or corner him. Vader finally snatched Fujinami out of the air, trying to counter his diving body attack with a powerslam, but Fujinami recountered with a small package for the win. It looked like a memorable match, but most of these matches that are complete sputter and meander along and then suddenly catch fire for the final few minutes, so I’m hesitant to get too excited about a clip which only shows the portion of the match they are guaranteed to show up for.

3/14/91 Nagoya Rainbow Hall: Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Takayuki Iizuka 24:10. They did the desperate and energetic match they should have done when they met for the titles on 12/13/90. Universally better performances from all parties, with Hase being particularly excellent. Koshinaka vs. Hase was by far the best, with the longtime rivals showing excellent chemistry. Iizuka was excited to have an opponent that could actually go on the mat, and threw all his sambo techniques at Hase, while using more junior offense against Sasaki. It was the best performance I’ve seen from Iizuka in quite a while. Though the match slowed some in the middle, they were stiffer than expected to make up for it. As they picked the pace up again, the match kept looking as though it were about to end, but it continued to go back and forth for quite a while. ***3/4

NJPW World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #163 8/25/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

3/14/91 Nagoya Rainbow Hall

Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Big Van Vader & Super Strong Machine 13:53. Vader is still a ways away from becoming the greatest fat man in the history of wrestling, but one of the reasons he was able to attain that status is he possesses the desire of a half pint who everyone repeatedly told didn’t have a chance of making it. Vader always brings it, and since he has so much push and heat on him, his opponents always bring it against him. Choshu & Fujinami could get away with a mediocre performance, but because it’s Vader they are wrestling with intensity and urgency. Vader really is the perfect big man for the Choshu style of match because he doesn’t have a lot of big moves at this point, but he loves to work fast (even if he stands and the opponents charge him) and clobber people. Choshu was on top of his game today, not showing any particular skill, but giving an energetic performance that was extremely efficient, showing great timing that got him his pops. Machine was better than he’s been of late, but doesn’t fit the match because he’s so flat, showing no energy or emotion. Fujinami may have been legitimately stunned from a sandwich lariat because Choshu got away with saving him and rolling him to the side of the ring, continuing as if a legal tag had been made. Choshu went 2-1 while Fujinami lay on the apron for around 3 minutes, but Fujinami looked fine when he made the hot tag to finish off the match. ***1/4

Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Norio Honaga 10:18. An effective little match that got sidetracked at the end. Honaga was at his most merciless, injuring Liger’s ribs immediately by laying him out on the guard rail and working them over throughout with actual wrestling such as the stomach breaker and some good old fashioned chair shots. Honaga is far from the ideal junior, but his lack of skilled offense didn’t hurt this match to the normal extent because his kicks and stomps were all directed at the injured area. What hurt the match was Liger failing to do a particularly convincing job of selling the rib injury, particularly in the later stages. Honaga would immediately cut Liger off with a shot to the tender area, but Liger finally came back, bloodying Honaga on the turnbuckle whose padding he removed. Saito distracted Liger to end his nice little run, and then they went home at least 5 minutes too soon with a finish that needed to be explained. It looked as though the ref counted three, but everyone pretended someone rang the bell at two. The stunned ref awarded the bout to Honaga, and it was soon revealed that Liger’s next challenger, Akira Nogami, was sitting at the timekeeper’s table. Liger’s injury should have been enough reason for Honaga to beat Liger, the Saito distraction was somewhat unnecessary and the whole Nogami deciding the outcome out of nowhere bit was just silly. Focusing on what’s next is obviously good in theory, but it just stole Honaga’s thunder. If they had to have Nogami play a role, I would rather have had him distract Liger and Honaga take him right out with a shot to the ribs. ***

Keiji Muto vs. Mike Rotundo 9:40. I figured this could be incredibly boring because Muto doesn’t usually need much impetus to play for time, and few wrestlers are more prone to stalling than Rotundo. Muto surprised me though, counteracting Rotundo’s restmissions as well as one could hope. Rotundo would tie him up, but Muto would push the pace whenever he broke free. It was nothing extraordinary, but they did a solid job of following a basic premise from start to finish. **

3/21/91 Tokyo Dome

Kengo Kimura & Osamu Kido & Kantaro Hoshino & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga 12:10. I have no idea what the purpose of this match was beyond getting a bunch of guys on the show. There was no particular story or heat to the old generation wrestling the new generation, and the match just kind of went along without developing, well, anything. They switched often, but the lack of guys who gave well or received well was extremely limiting. There weren’t many quality moves and no one seemed to wrestle enough to find their rhythm, much less get on any sort of roll. They seemed to try, but didn’t know how to use the numbers to their advantage, so it wound up falling into the trap of the baseball all star game, just giving everyone an at bat and whatever happened, happened. *

Scott Norton vs. Equalizer 2:23. Saturday morning enhancement at the Tokyo Dome? They matched Norton against a gaijin who was as tall, and had him run right through him. Norton capped it off by not catching Equalizer properly on his powerslam finisher, resulting in there being less impact than placing a throw rug. DUD

NJPW World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #164 9/1/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

3/21/91 Tokyo Dome

Shiro Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Brian Pillman & Tom Zenk & Tim Horner

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Akira

Arn Anderson & Barry Windham vs. Masahiro Chono & Masa Saito

Great Muta vs. Sting

NJ '91 Starrcade in Tokyo Dome Commercial Tape Part 1 3/21/91 Tokyo Dome
-1 1/2hr. Q=Near Perfect 1st Gen

Animal Hamaguchi & Kengo Kimura & Osamu Kido & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto & Norio Honaga 12:10. I have no idea what the purpose of this match was beyond getting a bunch of guys on the show. There was no particular story or heat to the old generation wrestling the new generation, and the match just kind of went along without developing, well, anything. They switched often, but the lack of guys who gave well or received well was extremely limiting. There weren’t many quality moves and no one seemed to wrestle enough to get on any sort of roll. They seemed to try, but didn’t know how to use the numbers to their advantage, so it wound up falling into the trap of the baseball all star game, just giving everyone an at bat and whatever happened, happened. *

Masahiro Chono & Masa Saito vs. Arn Anderson & Barry Windham 9:17. I wish Anderson & Windham had spent more time in Japan. This, unfortunately, wasn't a Japanese style match in the least. It wasn't American style either. In fact, I'm really not sure what it was. I expected to like this at least somewhat, but they didn't bother to actually wrestle. Instead, they did little beyond punch. The punching was fine, so if they had bothered to add a second half to the match, maybe it would have been decent. As it stands, it was just a waste of time and talent. 1/2*

IWGP Tag Title Match: Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Scott Steiner & Rick Steiner 12:56. I wanted to be a member of the bandwagon, but this wasn't much of a wrestling match. It's supposed to be the match where the vaunted Steiners finally had opposition on their level, but that only matters if they don't demean them by treating them as the usual jobbers whose sole purpose is to get tossed around like rag dolls so the Steiners look impressive. Basically they did a pro style version of Greco Roman wrestling, or rather a Steiner held Hase and eventually threw him. Steiners have great suplexes and Hase is a great bumper, but there wasn't any context for the throws, and not even much setup. These teams really weren't working together that well in the first 10 minutes. There was no particular chemistry or interplay; it was simply functional. It did have great offense throughout, but I wouldn't even say it was that exciting because the suplexes were incorporated in the most basic manner. The finishing segment was impressive because there was finally some sense of back and forth, some countering, some actual offense from Hase & Sasaki, but before the last few minutes there was no surprise, no drama, no sense of having come up with or earned something. ***

Big Van Vader & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Ron Simmons & Butch Reed 13:17. Hard fought American style match. They put a lot of effort into making it good from start to finish. The problem was it was good early, but tended to get worse and pretty much ended out of nowhere. The Super Monsters were pretty consistent, but Doom was a bit more erratic. They do some good things, but in between they kill time in the boring US style, in other words with mediocre punches and rest holds. Despite their tough guy image, Doom were more than willing to sell a lot and take a beating. I preferred the early portion because Vader & Bigelow were on them, but rather than building to a finish it began to meander. Doom got along fine, and Simmons wasn't mad that Reed was pinned while Simmons was battling Bigelow on the outside. However, Reed was apparently mad that Simmons couldn't save him, as he attacked the All-American when his back was turned. **1/2

Greatest 18 Club No Time Limit No Referee: Riki Choshu vs. Tiger Jeet Singh 11:07. Any match with Singh is a worst match of the year candidate, unless the inclusion of Singh simply disqualifies it from counting as actual wrestling. The only highlight of his latest abortion was Choshu bending Singh’s toy sword into a bow shape, which had me laughing long enough to spare me from some of the torture. Choshu tried his best to take this seriously, but as Singh may not even understand wrestling, he was mostly forced to just play along with the aimless brawling. Singh began by attacking the timekeeper for interrupting his endless traipsing about by ringing the bell, and busted Choshu open almost immediately. Singh bled heavily as well, so between the novelty of a double juice brawl and the audience’s frustration with Singh beating up wimpy officials and using weapons on their beloved Choshu, they took their anger out on Singh in the manner the wrestlers hoped rather than laughing this circus crap out of the building. Choshu actually used his signature moves at the finish, not that Singh can even take a lariat decently. The crowd went nuts when Choshu put Singh in an armbar after the match. -*

*COOP available*

NJ '91 Starrcade in Tokyo Dome Commercial Tape Part 2 3/21/91 Tokyo Dome
-1 1/2hr. Q=Master

Shiro Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Z Man & Brian Pillman & Tim Horner 12:10. I've never heard much about this match, but perhaps that's because it has no real involvement in anything NJPW or WCW or any of these wrestlers were doing at the time. Though just rolled out, the match did an excellent job of showcasing the WCW team, who was more than up to the opportunity to win over a new audience. The American junior style of the period provided energy, pace, and gymnastics, but lacked the highspots their athleticism would suggest. Horner is the perfect example of a guy that had all the ability to be a standout junior, but despite his capacity to control his body and get off the ground, his flying was totally vanilla. His work in this match was as good as anybody's, but he wasn't creative and charismatic like Pillman. Pillman was the standout because he worked the hardest and put the most effort into differentiating his offense. He was the one guy that had the moves, and was happy to use them. Z Man isn't great on his own, but he worked very well with Pillman. The WCW team tagged repeatedly, with Pillman & Z Man always setting each other up in transition. I enjoy when the winning team really goes out of their way to put the losers over, but the match really needed to go longer, as it was silly that Iizuka was destroyed for the majority of the match only to have the WCW team lose as soon as he finally made the hot tag. In any case, the teams worked really well together and the WCW guys, particularly Pillman, really made a positive impression. ***1/4

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. AKIRA 16:08. AKIRA had a new Muta inspired face painted gimmick, but this was still a one man show for Liger. Liger started flying early, and was on the offensive a lot more than usual trying to keep the quality up and the audience into the match. The crowd reaction was better than expected given a merely good junior match at the Tokyo Dome, as although thier sustained interest was in question for a while, they did keep reacting to the spots. AKIRA was, at best, good enough to be in there with Liger, but he didn't look polished and wasn't adding much in any regard. He knew he couldn't come close to matching Liger's offense, but his alternative was working Liger's knee, which wasn't getting any reaction, especially since the crowd preferred to see more of Liger's flying. The match was entertaining enough, but the work was well below the standard of Liger's big singles matches. AKIRA would become much more graceful and better at controlling his body in later years, but at this point he kind of just threw himself around, recklessly relying on pure athleticism. Liger didn't seem to be in top form either, but AKIRA's lack of precision wasn't making things easy on him. The match seemed to have some potential, but the finishing sequence was pedestrian, and generally not even executed that well. ***

El Gigante vs. Big Cat Hughes 2:16. In case Norton vs. Equalizer wasn't bad enough, they needed to give us Cat squash fever as well. Hughes got no more than a punch in. DUD

The Great Muta vs. Sting 11:41. I enjoyed the Muto vs. Sting series, but this wasn't one of the better entries. Muta wasn't meandering too much, and actually looked to push the pace more often than not, but it just felt really unfocused. In particular, the brawling was killing the match through stagnation and too much of what they did seemed random. Muta was, for once, only a notch or two below Muto. Sting always gave an effort in these days, but he was considerably mediocre here, with no real aptitude for the excessive rough housing. The match was way short, ending out of nowhere when Muta countered the Stinger splash with his mist. **1/4

NWA Heavyweight & IWGP Heavyweight Double Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami (IWGP champ) vs. Ric Flair (NWA champ) 23:06. These two wrestled their age, and then some. Flair’s lack of subtlety was so out of place. The harder he tried to get a reaction by overdoing every mannerism, the more he was greeted with utter silence. Flair looked a lot older than Fujinami, but Fujinami was suddenly lazy, doing one rest or submission hold after another in the first half. Flair began wrestling, and it was decent, but still flat. They just seemed to lack motivation, or at least they were unable to convey any semblance of intensity, emotion or enthusiasm that would get the crowd into it. They had some good chop exchanges, but nobody cared. Fujinami busting Flair open by repeatedly ramming his head into the guard rail helped a little. The match actually seemed to be gaining a little momentum when there was a ref bump of all things, on Bill Alfonso of all referees to be officiating a Tokyo Dome main event. Fujinami pinned Flair, but Alfonso was no where to be found. Flair kicked out of a second pin in time, not that it mattered, and Fujinami wound up “accidentally” back body dropping Flair to the floor. Alfonso still missed this, but when Fujinami went for another pin a Japanese official came in and counted the fall. As it was Fujinami who scored the victory, the finish didn’t go over too poorly. Overall though, it just seemed the wrong version of each wrestler doing the wrong match for the wrong crowd. It wasn’t bad, but it was a match that was simply hard to care about, which is exactly what a Tokyo Dome main is not supposed to be. **

NJPW World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #165 9/3/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

3/21/91 Tokyo Dome

3/91

Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Negro Casas 6:52. The Liger vs. Casas series was immensely disappointing because the sum of the parts never came close to adding up to the whole. Even though they could do each other’s style, they didn’t have the timing, chemistry, and proficiency to do it at the level of overall lesser wrestlers doing their most comfortable style. Today’s match leaned more toward Casas doing the Japanese junior style, wrestling stiffer and on a move for move or brief sequence basis. He alternated athletic holds with rudo cheapshots. I loved the general malevolence of the match, particularly the sequence where Casas dove off the top to the floor with a chair then tried a tope, but Liger avenged by stopping it with the chair. They did Lucha sequences here and there, but as they didn’t have a great feel for one another or because of the communication barrier, it was rather easy to tell what they were setting up. Though I’m cutting the match up to some extent because a few sequences and counters were surprisingly deliberate, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was one of the more offensively interesting Liger matches of the era. Liger actually didn’t have that much offense, but Casas pulled out a bunch of moves you don’t see in Japan. I always had a particular affinity for Casas’ boomerang headscissors. Though it does no particular damage, it's about as graceful a flying move as you'll see. The match could have been notable if they did even a normal length match, but for some reason they had Casas use the ropes for a cheap flash pin, which was kind of bizarre in that Casas had dominated the match up to that point, which would lead you to believe he’d either lose or at least win after Liger had a big run. ***

Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito 12:12. Koshinaka kept everyone moving, resulting in the most motivated Blond Outlaws performance so far in 1991. The intensity was there, so even though there was very little offense of interest before the finishing sequence, there was something to all the punching and stomping that made you feel as though they meant it. It wasn’t complex or pretty, but it was effective enough. **1/2

NJPW World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #166 9/12/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

3/91

Riki Choshu & Masahiro Chono & Keiji Muto vs. Scott Norton & Wild Samoan & Great Kokina. Overachieving match. Chono & Muto came to work, and there was a lot of heat on Norton (especially vs. Muto) and Kokina. They did the smart match, with Muto & Chono using their speed to try to counteract Norton & Kokina’s power, but the sheer mass of the gaijins stifled them even on some of the most basic maneuvers such as the snapmare. Muto dove out of the way of Norton’s football tackle, and busted him open on the floor. Norton had something to prove here, and was at his most entertaining. Choshu was a non-factor, but Norton pinning him in his powerslam was huge for the world’s slowest Flash. Norton then attacked Muto on the floor twice to further promote their singles match. Samoan is the best worker on his team, but also played only a minor role. The match was short, but that’s a good thing because, knowing that, Norton & Kokina were able to “sprint”. **1/2

Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Masa Saito & Kuniaki Kobayashi 13:21. Hase is wrestling at a level or more above the opposition in each and every match this year. Kobayashi was good here, slick and precise, but for the most part it was Hase who singlehandedly made the match good. Sasaki is still trying to find himself. He’s competent, but doesn’t know what sort of wrestler he wants to be, and Hase tends to take 60-75% of the match and let him have a few brief bursts of offense, unless Sasaki is in a long time because he’s selling consistently (not the case here). The surprise of this contest for me was how much Saito was selling, very willingly playing the underdog for Hase. ***

Negro Casas vs. Pegasus Kid 11:52. A much different match than Casas had with Jushin Thunder Liger on the previous SKY-A classics, this time playing more a technico role. Not that there was much cheating from either, but Pegasus did start laying into Casas and took it to the floor after Casas suggested a congratulatory handshake. Pegasus seemed much more comfortable doing Lucha than Liger did, so the match was more proficient in that aspect, yet there was little in the way of running sequences, so the level of difficulty was rather disappointing. It was one of those matches where they delved in a lot of different areas and kept changing things up, but none of it seemed to add up and they never gained any momentum. It was all entertaining and competent, but it felt rather incomplete. It seemed as though they were searching throughout, so I was rather shocked that they went home so soon without ever really sticking to anything or particularly picking the action up. ***1/4

Osamu Kido vs. Masahiro Chono 9:51. Kido is the sort of opponent who brings out the worst in Chono, happy to do as dated a match with as few highspots as possible. I don’t mind that it was 70’s style technical wrestling with no moves, but that it felt totally uninspired. They didn’t make me believe in anything they did; it had no intensity and seemed meaningless. The wrestling was as competent as could be, but none of it seemed to be doing particular damage or leading anywhere. It didn’t seem to be done with any particular aim, or have any special importance, and then it fittingly just ended with them rolling back and forth after a sunset flip. *1/4

4/28/91 Omiya Skate Center: Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito 18:45. I was disappointed enough by their 3/6/91 tag title match, but at least they made some effort there. Tonight they just phoned it in. It was the worst Hase & Sasaki match thusfar in 1991. They sold almost the entire match for opponents who were only concerned with stalling. Machine & Saito used one submission after the other, with no real attempt to make us believe in any of them. It was totally, obviously, just a ploy to sit in a Boston crab or stand in a sleeper for a minute at a time. Hase was still the best in the match, but this time he wasn’t doing much either, and didn’t find the willpower to try to save it. Everyone finally showed up for the final two minutes, but it was too little too late. I figured Blond Outlaws were going over to avenge their loss in the title match, but after a performance that cemented them in last place in my unofficial ’91 NJ tag rankings, I was more than normally excited to see Sasaki pull out his avalanche style powerslam for the win. *1/2

NJPW Top of the Super Junior II League Handhelds April 1991
-1hr 50min. Q=Ex

4/15/91

Scorpio & Owen Hart vs. Negro Casas & Black Cat

Top of the Super Junior II League Match: Pegasus Kid vs. Norio Honaga

4/17/91

Scorpio & David "Fit" Finlay vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Shiro Koshinaka

Masanobu Kurisu & Negro Casas vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase

Top of the Super Junior II League Match: Owen Hart vs. Pegasus Kid

Top of the Super Junior II League Match: Norio Honaga vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

4/28/91 Saitama Omiya Skate Center

Top of the Super Junior II League Match: Scorpio vs. David "Fit" Finlay

Top of the Super Junior II League Match: Negro Casas vs. Pegasus Kid

NJ Tadakai no Wonderland ~Jushin Thunder Liger Hen~ #7 5/21/00
& NJ Tadakai no Wonderland ~Jushin Thunder Liger Hen~ #8 5/28/00

4/19/91 Top of the Super Junior II League Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Negro Casas 6:51. A match between the best junior in Japan and arguably the best junior in Mexico ought to be an all out effort, but they couldn't have done a more uninspiring match if they tried. These two didn't push each other in the least, instead turning it into a throwaway that served no purpose beyond Casas avenging his title challenge loss to Liger on 12/26/90 & allowing Liger, Casas, Pegasus, & Honaga to all tie for 1st in the Super Junior league with 8 points. Sure, there's too much talent in the ring for the match to simply be uninteresting, but the structuring was just that, and when you combine that with the brevity of the contest, they really set the bar miles below their capability. These two didn't build a match where they combined their skills, instead they pretty much just stood there and took the other's offense until it was time for the lead to change, and even that only happened a few times before the last minute or so. Once they decided to actually work together, the match got good with some interesting outside the ring spots involving a chair. Casas first dove off the top to the floor to give Liger a chair shot, but Liger avenged by stopping Casas' tope with the chair. I was expecting at least 5 if not 10 minutes of back and forth high flying to follow, but the match shockingly ended in cheap WWE fashion as soon as they returned to the ring. **

4/28/91 Saitama Omiya Skate Center, Top of the Super Junior II League Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Owen Hart 14:58. Graceful and precise wrestling, truly a thing of beauty. The junior division has been very disappointing in ’91, largely because there are no natives beyond Liger that are doing anything of note. This is the match that could have, should have been a classic. Owen was in top form and they were certainly wrestling at that level, both individually and collectively, from the get go. However, the second problem with the junior division in ’91 is the brevity of the matches. I can see that there might be some benefit in not having Casas’ matches go too long because his style is somewhat alien to NJPW rings, and this was actually quite a bit longer than any of the other junior matches that have been shown, but for a match where they were committed to doing some legitimate body work in the middle, they would have benefited from not having to pack so much into 15 minutes. The opening was great, then it slowed in the middle but Owen’s attack of Liger’s left elbow was very well done. It would have been a strong point if it wasn’t totally dropped due to time constraints or laziness, and Liger’s body attack that never really developed was another point where you felt as though the match would have really benefited from even 3 more minutes. As they transitioned to the finishing segment, there were a few spots where the choreography was a little off, but generally the match was better than their even shorter match from 1/30/90 because they seemed so much more comfortable working with each other. They were on the same page, and able to do whatever they could think of. The offense in the final minutes was highly impressive, but they didn’t do a great job of making it as dramatic as it could have been, of making you buy into the near finishes, which there also didn’t seem to be enough of. One could argue that 15 minutes should have been ample, but either way, this was not a blow away match by any means. Maybe I wanted them to do a final rather than a league match because that's what this should have been (unless Pegasus came through), but regardless, this was their only opportunity and as good as it was, they also very clearly left a lot in the tank. Still, it was the best NJ junior match thusfar in 1991 by a wide margin. ****

Top of the Super Junior II Final, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Decision Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Norio Honaga 21:54. We were in the midst of a great period for heavyweights coming up the ranks with Hase, Muto, Hashimoto, Chono, Koshinaka, and Sasaki all on the rise, but there weren’t any particularly promising juniors. A repackaged Nogami failed to set the Tokyo Dome on fire on 3/21/91, so we were ultimately stuck with Honaga. Honaga had yet to show anyone why he belonged in big matches, but alas he was here. This was his coming out party, upsetting the two top juniors in one night (he defeated Pegasus in the semifinal) although he wasn’t sure who he was or what to do. Honaga tried for better offense early to make it memorable, throwing in a plancha, a powerbomb on a table, ripping Liger’s mask and so on, but he generally seemed to lack a sense of what defined him as a wrestler and was just getting by throwing in a little of this and a little of that. Or perhaps he knew he needed to step it up to compete at the highest level, but he didn't know how to? There was nothing he was better than Liger at, but he badly needed big match credibility so Liger sold and sold and sold. This is the one junior match so far in 1991 that had the time, but Honaga couldn’t fill it. 15 minutes into the match, Honaga was still stomping Liger. Honaga can be crafty, he can get heel heat, he can sometimes tell a story in his simple but effective manner, but sustained offense from Norio is never a good idea. Liger finally made his hot comeback, throwing his body around. This set up a great near fall that’s exactly the sort of thing Honaga does well, avoiding a back body drop by sliding and quickly hooking Liger’s arms with his legs to almost flash pin him. There was way too little of effective Honaga though, as he wasn’t really setting anything up, instead relying on quantity over quality, but quantity from him isn’t even good heavyweight offense. A Honaga match is much better when he sells and comes up with the well timed, probably shady counter then follows up with some cheap shots to sustain the heat, but in his first tour final singles main event, he simply lacked the credibility for that. They followed with one near fall after another until the finish, and the crowd was apparently responding to the effort over the quality, as they were really into it. Both men tried really hard, but ultimately Honaga is still a pedestrian wrestler who is in the junior division by virtue of being decidedly too small to be a heavyweight. It was a nice match because they worked so hard, but it was a poor showcase for a junior division that needed a jumpstart. ***1/4

#8

3/21/91 Tokyo Dome, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. AKIRA 16:08. AKIRA had a new Muta inspired face painted gimmick, but this was still a one man show for Liger. Liger started flying early, and was on the offensive a lot more than usual trying to keep the quality up and the audience into the match. The crowd reaction was better than expected given a merely good junior match at the Tokyo Dome, as although thier sustained interest was in question for a while, they did keep reacting to the spots. AKIRA was, at best, good enough to be in there with Liger, but he didn't look polished and wasn't adding much in any regard. He knew he couldn't come close to matching Liger's offense, but his alternative was working Liger's knee, which wasn't getting any reaction, especially since the crowd preferred to see more of Liger's flying. The match was entertaining enough, but the work was well below the standard of Liger's big singles matches. AKIRA would become much more graceful and better at controlling his body in later years, but at this point he kind of just threw himself around, recklessly relying on pure athleticism. Liger didn't seem to be in top form either, but AKIRA's lack of precision wasn't making things easy on him. The match seemed to have some potential, but the finishing sequence was pedestrian, and generally not even executed that well. ***

7/4/91 Fukuoka Kokusai Center, Mask vs. Mask Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Pegasus Kid 16:25. A notable junior match for the era that would be a classic for most guys, but for these two it's kind of a lost match in a style that doesn't quite suite either of them that falls between the styles that really worked for them, the all out countering Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid style of their great 1990 matches and the flying vs. brutality of their great 8/12/92 match. Today we get the Benoit show from start to finish since he was losing his mask. He was somewhat miscast as the all out flyer - this is the most flying I can ever remember him using in a single match - throwing in a lot of aerial moves that he didn't use as the decade went on. Though Benoit's offense is not only fun but obviously excellent even if he's lacking a bit of the athleticism to make his flying graceful so he kind of seems to be heaving his body through the air, what made their earlier matches so exciting is the interplay they had with one another, the way they could counter & seemingly top whatever their rival was throwing at them. This didn't have that Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid athletic rivals feel, which in some ways was good, but they'd yet to figure out how to substitute that for their own match either. The other problem is they came out really flat with a mat portion that truly had nothing going on. There was no intensity, no struggling to counter the holds, just not enough movement and no urgency in general. When they picked it up on their feet though, they went straight to kamikaze mode with Benoit even doing a missile kick to the floor. However, as it was all Benoit, Liger was stuck in the standing/laying around taking mode and thus wasn't pushing Benoit to find the creative or surprising ways to incorporate his offense or at least hit his spots until Liger finally had some spectacular offense 12 minutes in. The offense here was really impressive, feeling rather dangerous & reckless given the era, but in most places they relied too heavily on the spectacular aspect at the expense of actually working it in or making it meaningful. Liger really did very little here, which was very unselfish & supposed to put Benoit over, but ultimately instead felt like the lazy late 90's Misawa stuff, particularly his series with Akiyama where he'd just take a bunch of big moves then get bored and knock the kid out. In this case Liger's 1 big move was an avalanche style DDT, a crazy newish move that rightfully no one was kicking out from at the time, but the dynamic was different in that these two are rivals & peers rather than the man vs. the future, and Liger's lack of at least trying things offensively simply didn't bring the best out of Benoit because it didn't push him to dynamically work these moves into the bout. As an oooh, look at Benoit's cool flying match, this might be as good as it gets, but the quality of the wrestling is nowhere near their 8/19/90 or 11/1/90 matches because we are forced to spend our time admiring what Benoit does rather than how he's able to do it. ***3/4

NJPW World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #167 10/10/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

4/28/91 Saitama Omiya Skate Center

Top of the Super Junior II League Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Owen Hart 14:58. Graceful and precise wrestling, truly a thing of beauty. The junior division has been very disappointing in ’91, largely because there are no natives beyond Liger that are doing anything of note. This is the match that could have, should have been a classic. Owen was in top form and they were certainly wrestling at that level, both individually and collectively, from the get go. However, the second problem with the junior division in ’91 is the brevity of the matches. I can see that there might be some benefit in not having Casas’ matches go too long because his style is somewhat alien to NJPW rings, and this was actually quite a bit longer than any of the other junior matches that have been shown, but for a match where they were committed to doing some legitimate body work in the middle, they would have benefited from not having to pack so much into 15 minutes. The opening was great, then it slowed in the middle but Owen’s attack of Liger’s left elbow was very well done. It would have been a strong point if it wasn’t totally dropped due to time constraints or laziness, and Liger’s body attack that never really developed was another point where you felt as though the match would have really benefited from even 3 more minutes. As they transitioned to the finishing segment, there were a few spots where the choreography was a little off, but generally the match was better than their even shorter match from 1/30/90 because they seemed so much more comfortable working with each other. They were on the same page, and able to do whatever they could think of. The offense in the final minutes was highly impressive, but they didn’t do a great job of making it as dramatic as it could have been, of making you buy into the near finishes, which there also didn’t seem to be enough of. One could argue that 15 minutes should have been ample, but either way, this was not a blow away match by any means. Maybe I wanted them to do a final rather than a league match because that's what this should have been (unless Pegasus came through), but regardless, this was their only opportunity and as good as it was, they also very clearly left a lot in the tank. Still, it was the best NJ junior match thusfar in 1991 by a wide margin. ****

Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu & Keiji Muto vs. Scott Norton & Great Kokina & Wild Samoan 11:58. Muto being one of the only guys that ever made Norton look good is the obvious point, but Norton actually brought out the best in Muto as well. Norton’s size and strength forced Muto to rely on his quickness and athleticism, which was the most entertaining aspect of Muto when he actually had knees, and the fact that the fans were reacting to Flash calling Muto out and trying to bully him kept Muto focused and on the go. Muto was on top of his game here, and Norton, though somewhat clumsy and inflexible, did a great job of playing the obnoxious badass heel, taunting and challenging Muto at every turn. He even busted Muto open by dropping him on the exposed turnbuckle, causing Muto to bleed heavily enough to do a decorative spew. There was too much Kokina, and the rest of the match wasn’t particularly distinguished, but the others knew what the match was about, and were willing to make a minor contribution then get out of Norton & Muto's way rather than distracting from the focus or trying to steal their thunder. Norton got so far under Muto’s skin that Muto armbarred him after the match until his partners took pity on Norton and pulled him off. ***

5/11/91 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

Karate vs. Boxing Ishu Kakutogisen 3 min 10 Rd: Masashi Aoyagi vs. Tony Halme R3 1:57. I expected an out and out travesty, but the match actually could have been good if Halme would only have punched believably. Aoyagi was entertaining, throwing a lot of nice kicks from the outside and trying to use his knees when Halme pinned him in the corner. The match was pretty good with Aoyagi on offense, but Halme was so atrocious one wonders how he was ever asked back. It was easily a worst match of the year candidate with Halme on offense. His showboating and hamming it up would have made it hard to take serious, if his whiffing on most of his punches and making minimal contact on the rest didn’t already render the notion impossible. The match would have been better if there were a third as many knockdowns, but of course the real problem was Aoyagi kept diving to the canvas from phantom punches. DUD

Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami 19:52. Looking back, it’s hard to figure why Hase didn’t amount to more. Despite being a former junior he was as tall as the other three wrestlers in this match, who happen to have 14 IWGP Heavyweight Championship runs between them. He was stealing the show in every tag match, totally over, and had begun to seem to be the man in the tag division due to a successful push. Choshu & Fujinami were not only taking him seriously and totally motivated to wrestle him, they were putting extra effort into knocking him off his perch. Hase was diverse and cocky enough to take both on in their own element. Tonight's match was more about him matching technique with Fujinami, but I loved the intense bruising exchange he had with Choshu. Choshu was the disdainful grumpy old man here, on a mission to keep the new generation firmly behind the old one (in story, in booking he was taking a step toward the opposite). He was out to put a beating on the tag champs, and it was one of his stiffest and most intense performances of the year. Sasaki never did too much in any of these matches with Hase; he was always alright, but it was the Hase show with Sasaki playing a totally supporting role. Hase logging so much ring time finally didn’t work out here, and I disliked him doing the job which felt counter productive, but overall the match still seemed to put the duo on a higher plateau. I preferred this match to most of the other Hase & Sasaki tags because they actually got strong support from the opposition, mainly Choshu stepping up the intensity and making the contest feel important. ***1/2

NJPW Wonderland (Original Broadcast) #444
& NJPW Wonderland (Original Broadcast) #445
-1hr 45min. Q=Ex

#444 taped 4/30/91 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

4/28/91 Saitama: Keiji Muto & Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Great Kokina & Scott Norton & Wild Samoan

Martial Arts Match: Tony Halme vs. Masashi Aoyagi

Keiji Muto vs. Scott Norton

#445 taped 4/30/91 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

Top of the Super Jr Semifinal: Norio Honaga vs. Pegasus Kid

Top of the Super Jr Semifinal: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Negro Casas

TOP OF THE SUPER Jr. II Final, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Decision Match: Norio Honaga vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

NJ Handhelds 5/6/91
-2hr 15min. Q=Ex. 1 DVD

Black Cat vs. Osamu Nishimura

Handicap Match: Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito vs. Michiyoshi Ohara & Koji Kanemoto & Hiroyoshi Yamamoto

Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Masanobu Kurisu

Shiro Koshinaka vs. Kensuke Sasaki

Masahiro Chono vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi

Hiroshi Hase vs. Jushin Thunder Liger. Great technical match with old style mat wrestling giving way to modern highspots.

Keiji Muto vs. Takayuki Iizuka

NJPW World Pro Wrestling Immortal Fighting Spirit Tradition #168 10/11/06
-1 1/2hr. Q=Perfect

4/30/91 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

Keiji Muto vs. Scott Norton 9:07. Muto was a man possessed here, actually wrestling to his capability and then some. This motivated Muto, unfortunately one we rarely see in future years, is indeed one of the great heavyweight wrestlers, and he carried Norton to a highly entertaining back and forth sprint that was one of the highlights of Scott's career. Norton isn’t exactly graceful and doesn’t always execute well, but he's intuitive about getting crowd reaction and willing to allow his size to work against him as much as for him. These two wanted each other badly, and Muto was catapulting himself all over the place from start to finish in an effort to counteract Norton’s mass, which made for an entertaining contest. He also worked Norton’s wrist, which was presumably injured from his post match armbar on 4/28/91. I wouldn't have been opposed to Norton incapacitating Muto, but as it was their first big singles match and Norton was the new monster, the finish of having Norton go over but not in a particularly decisive manner also made sense. I think keeping it short also helped because both were able to go full force the entire contest, and as Norton doesn’t have much more than he showed here he’d likely become counter productive if it went much longer. ***1/2

5/31/91 Osaka Jo Hall

Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Masanobu Kurisu & Kim Duk 12:35. I can understand why Saito & Goto are here, as even though they aren’t good, at least they are young enough to potentially improve (too bad they only got worse). However, bringing Kurisu & Duk back when they are years past their prime and aren’t going to make any money for NJ makes no sense. I mean, Duk is slow as molasses and can hardly bend at the waist, and yet with these guys, he isn’t noticeably worse than the rest. I’d tell you about the wrestling, if they actually did any. Duk actually tried to slip a move or two in, but it was pretty much punches, stomps, and headbutts throughout. DUD

Riki Choshu & Keiji Muto vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & TNT 10:37. Muto continues to be one of the most consistent and motivated wrestlers in the league, an easy second best in the tag scene behind Hase. He put on a show again, completely overshadowing Choshu, who I hardly remember even being involved. Bigelow did a nice job as well, displaying the quickness, offense, and bumps of a man half his size. TNT was one-dimensional as ever, doing nothing beyond throwing kicks. I enjoyed Muto poking fun at TNT by making a bunch of corny gestures after kicking him. **1/2

NJPW Jushin Thunder Liger Retirement Commemorative DVD Vol. 1 Liger Legend ~30 years Collection of Famous Matches~ DVD Box Set
-21hr 25min. Q=Perfect. 12 DVDs