NJPW 09/10/2000

Shinya Hashimoto vs Tatsumi Fujinami
I’ve never seen Fujinami wrestle before, but a little research shows he was about 46 here, in which case he was in fantastic shape. It also means I’ve got no point of reference for how good he is, but this match is pretty uninspiring. There’s fleeting moments of excitement, but a bit too much going through the motions. Both guys jockey for position to start, with both hesitant to attack and expose themselves, until Hash decides to unload with some strikes, which lasts until Fujinami catches his leg on a kick and takes him to the mat. Back up, and Fujinami tries some strikes of his own, but gets taken down by a Hashimoto legsweep. Hash follows with a big senton. Hash then hits an Indian Deathlock. This heat up again with another strike exchange, this time with Fujinami taking some kicks flush to the face. It takes four of them to put him down. Fujinami is dead weight and Hash struggles to get him to his feet. However, Fujinami blocks a Hash brainbuster, but falls prey to a DDT, before Hash locks in a keylock for the tapout. Really anticlimactic.

Jushin Liger vs Super Delfin
JIP, which is a shame as it’s a match I’d like to see in full. We join as Delfin hits a tornado DDT on Liger, and locks in a Delfin Clutch for two. Delfin hits Liger with a palmstrike and the Osaka Cutter, before locking in a camel clutch. Liger breaks free and hits a palmstrike for a one count. A second gets a two count. A third is followed by a Fisherman Buster for the Liger win. Really want more of this.

Takashi Iizuka vs Don Frye
JIP again, though we get a bit more of this match. We join with Frye holding a leglock on Iizuka, who makes the ropes. Frye then holds a keylock on, before Iizuka makes the ropes again. Frye tries a judo throw, but is caught in a rear naked choke in a nice little sequence. Frye makes the ropes, but Iizuka hits two exploders before locking in another rear naked choke. Frye manages to break it again and nails a big belly-to-back suplex. Frye breaks from a front facelock and locks in a rear naked choke of his own for the win.

Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs Koji Kanemoto
JIP, with Koji getting knees on a moonsault attempt, but it seems that Kanemoto has been working over Takaiwa’s legs, as it’s him selling the impact the most. KK goes after the injured legs, locking in a figure-four before hitting a Frankensteiner and transitioning straight into a anklelock. Takaiwa inflicts damage of his own, getting two after turning a top rope rana into a powerbomb, but Kanemoto goes back to the leg again. However, it’s all for naught, as Takaiwa powerbombs him (barely) into the corner and hits a DVD for the win. Seemed pretty good.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
Our final JIP match sees the TenKoji team dominating Nakanishi. A Tenzan Driver is followed by a top rope headbutt for two. Kojima hits a Koji Cutter from second rope, but poses too long and gets nailed by 3 spears from Nakanishi. Nakanishi goes for the Argentine backbreaker, but Tenzan breaks and TenKoji hit a doubleteam powerbomb. Nakanishi goes for a claw on Kojima, who breaks free and instead nails a lariat for the win.

Steve Williams vs Scott Norton
This is a battle of the gaijins, AJPW vs NJPW. Both guys are positioned as evenly matched, as a battle of shoulderblocks and clotheslines yields no winner. However, Doc hits a dropkick to Norton’s arm and begins to focus his assault on the limb. I love the fact that Williams, just before he wraps Norton’s arm around the ringpost, finds time to dish out a pair of headbutts to Norton. In a nice sequence, Williams fights to lock a cross-armbreaker on Norton, who keeps trying to power out to a good reaction, before he manages to re-link his fingers. Norton hits a shoulderblock with his bad shoulder, which means that Doc can recover and hit a sort-of suicide dive. Williams continues to work the arm, but decides to go to the top rope and is caught by a top tope powerslam. Doc rallies back and tries a backdrop driver, but Norton falls on top for a two count. What I really like is the way both guys really have to struggle on their powermoves. It may result in the move not looking totally clean, but it adds to the realism and makes it feel like a proper fight: Doc shouldn’t be able to easily lift a guy as big as Scott Norton for a gutwrench powerbomb. When he does, it clearly takes a massive effort to get Norton up. Williams hits a backdrop driver on Norton, the effort of which keeps both men down. Doc hits a second, but Norton gets straight back to his feet. However, a third (where Norton lands on top of Doc, clearly winding him) gets the win. Fun heavyweight collision.

Masanobu Fuchi & Shiro Koshinaka vs Masa Chono & Mr T
Mr T is Tatsutoshi Goto under a mask. This is a battle of the veterans, and another AJPW vs NJPW clash. In line with this, Fuchi is more than happy to fight dirty, attacking the NJPW duo from the bell and standing on the face of Chono. Mr T comes in an offers some blows to Fuchi’s stomach, but Fuchi takes it to the mat and works over his legs, locking in an STF followed by an Indian Deathlock. However, as good as Fuchi is on the mat, he falls prey to the team of Chono and T, who hit him with a neato spike piledriver. Whilst Chono continues to beat up Fuchi, however, Koshinaka piledrives Goto on the ramp to the ring, which allows the heel team to make the most of their man advantage. Koshinaka hits a top rope butt-butt and a powerbomb for two. Mr T comes back and holds Koshinaka in place for Chono, but Chono is still on the mat and, when he does get up, his Yakuza kick attempt is ducked, hitting T in the face. This doesn’t hinder the face team for long, as they throw Fuchi from the ring and Goto nails Koshinaka with a lariat for the win. Watchable, but not amazing.

Toshiaki Kawada vs Kensuke Sasaki
This, on the other hand, is absolutely awesome. It’s our final AJPW vs NJPW encounter, with two company aces going head to head. Ergo, we’ve got a real big-match atmosphere. An opening strike exchange is pretty even, but ends with Kawada outside the ring regaining his bearings. Back in, Kawada tries taking control on the mat, but Sasaki breaks free and nails a big lariat. This prompts a chop exchange that ends with Sasaki on one knee, allowing Kawada to down him with an enzuigiri. Kawada takes this as a cue to just kick the shit out of Sasaki, constantly wearing him down. After taking a belly-to-back suplex, Sasaki starts to come back, blocking a powerbomb attempt and hitting two big lariats for a two count. Sasaki locks in a sharpshooter, which gets broken by Kawada making the ropes. Sasaki tries to lariat him down again, but his lariats have no effect on Kawada. This leads to both men exchanging lariats, which Sasaki eventually wins, only for Kawada to get straight back up and level him with a Yakuza kick! This is terrific. A double lariat puts both men down. Sasaki gets up, but tries another lariat and runs into an enzuigiri from Kawada, which hits him on the lariat arm! Kawada hits another three enzuigiri’s, but a fourth is blocked. Sasaki tries another lariat, but runs directly into another Kawada enzuigiri, which is enough to get the win in a colossal war. Just an fantastic match, with both guys getting to look near invincible as they trade bombs in an attempt to finally put the other away. Strongly recommended.