Superstar Sleeze

IWGP Champion Power Warrior (Kensuke Sasaki) vs The Great Muta - NJPW 5/5/00 I have now seen 3 out of the four matches Muto/a had in Japan in the Year 2000. I was really disappointed he didn’t have Miss Madness/Mona with home especially when I saw Sasaki brought his wife Akira Hokuto with him. Now this was a classic Great Muta match. The Chono match had the table but there was a lot of Keiji in that match. This was Great Muta through and through. Sasaki is dressed as his alter ego the Power Warrior so that means no one is selling shit in this match. Muta comes to the Ring hobbling on crutch why you might ask because it is Great fucking Muta who the fuck knows. He attacks Warrior with the crutch. Then he kicks Hokuto. I was like no fucking way. So then she dropped his ass Northern Lights Bomb I had to stifle my pop because my wife is asleep next to me. HE MISTS HOKUTO~! ALL THE STARS IN THE SKY FOR THIS OPENING! It settles into a Muta match. Weird pacing, strange selling choices by both, really long wrist control work by Muta. Sasaki throws in some of his normal spots. Muta does the Powerdriver elbow and dragon leg screw. I really liked the Muta Springboard Dropkick/Power Warrior No-Sell/Levels him with a lariat. Sasaki dumps him on his head with the Northern Lights Bomb. MIST~! MOONSAULT! Cross-armbreaker was a bit weird. I dug the finish. Muta goes for the RED MIST! BLOCK~! POWER WARRIOR MIST~! LARIAT WIN! After the match Hokuto hits a Doomsday Device on Muta! Sort of defies rating because it is mostly bad but when it is good it is fucking great pro wrestling theatre. Call it *** 1/4 I think most people will enjoy the 15-ish minutes it takes to watch this.

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Keiji Mutoh vs Masahiro Chono - AJPW 10/27/01 Pretty weird that two of the biggest 90s New Japan stars are headlong All Japan’s Anniversary Budokan show. These two have been having great matches deserve to main event a big show somewhere and if Inoki was not going to give to them might as well do it here. Mutoh is 0-3 versus Chono in past two years with most recent loss just three months prior. Can Mutoh hang onto the Triple Crown? What a bizarre and I would say bad finish to an otherwise great match. I also disliked the beginning. Chono comes out the gates red hot total full court press. Bang SHINING WIZARD BY CHONO! Awesome! Mutoh powders. Unlike the Tenryu match where that becomes the key plot point it is totally forgotten immediately and they just do standard New Japan chain wrestling sequence. That sucked because they had a real chance to make this match feel different. Mutoh goes for the STF a couple times. They end up in my least favorite tree hold the bundle of leg locks. Mutoh eventually gets a hold of the leg. It is 2001 Mutoh you know the drill. Dropkicks to the knee, Dragon Leg Screw and the Figure-4. I eat this shit up. Didnt love Chono’s transition a Flatliner, Piledriver and another Flatliner. Wish it was more organic, he does the Butterfly Lock. Mutoh pops off a Dragon Leg Screw on the apron and ROPE-ASSISTED SHINING WIZARD! up until this point it is pretty similar to knee vs neck psychology to their other matches. Mutoh goes for the Moonsault but Chono is up. He BLOCKS the Shining Wizard. One of the challenges of the Shining Wizard is that it is hard to see when someone blocks it or eats it. He hits his own! STF! Mutoh makes the ropes! Kappou Kick! Mutoh eats canvas on the Moonsault attempt. STF~! They are really building to a the finish. It is getting hot in here. STF WITH CHOKE! How Mutoh lost two of the matches. Then the match gets weird. Chono blocks all of Mutoh’s Shining Wizards and hits a bunch of his own and a Yakuza Kick. Mutoh keeps kicking out. Mutoh Frankensteiner and he wins?!? WTF?!? The body of 1/4/00 and 7/20/01 were better but then the run up to the finish was the hottest they have done. Then they just finished with a wet fart. *** 1/2 I guess

Masahiro Chono vs The Great Muta - NJPW 4/7/00 The last stand of WCW against NWO takes place in the Tokyo Dome on April 2000! Chono has completely absorbed NWO Japan into Team 2000 but effectively this is the last remnant of the NWO as the vibe and aesthetic is still very much the same. Now why do I say this is WCW's last stand well, you see Mutoh after losing in the Tokyo Dome three months prior to Chono and also losing his group conjures up the Great Muta for this battle and his facepaint is emblazoned with WCW and the announcers say WCW a half million times. One last stand for WCW against the NWO! Now as I said Great Muta is up against like 10-ish men it looks like so he calls upon reinforcements from WCW and who does he get well who else, BUT Mighty Molly at this time going but Miss Madness. Random as fuck. It speak volumes that New Japan could run the Dome in January and then again in April and still draw 40,000. Hashimoto vs Ogawa is a big main event, but this match definitely plays a significant role. The Great Muta like Keiji Mutoh is very hit and miss, but credit to Mutoh in a totally different way. The selling can get really wonky with Great Muta gimmick as we can see with Kappou Kick sell and there is sometimes a lot of time spent under the ring...thankfully that was not a problem in this match. Overall, I would say this was a clear step down from the great January 4th match, but still good. Customary New Japan chain wrestling doesnt really go anywhere. Muta throws in a mule kick, Chono hits that Kappou kick, but not much. One tendency I have noticed from Muta is that at the 5 minute mark he loves to hit the Powerdriver Elbow and usually the Back Handspring Elbow. They take turns sort of stealing the others trademarks so for Chono we get Figure-4s and Dragon Leg Screws and for Muta we get the STF. Muta goes outside and scared some people and steals a chair. He doesnt do much with the chair. Chono gets the chair really cracks him with it. Unfortunately my co-workers had a lot of questions for me after my walk so this is done a slight time delay and the memory is getting a little fuzzy. I dont think this match was good enough to go back and get every detail right. Chono decides to work the neck randomly so Muta is able to convert into an STF. Then it is Muta in the Dome so they do some random ramp work that doesnt really hit where they trade moves. Back Handspring Elbow and Top Rope Frankensteiner is in there somewhere. Muta Dragon Leg Screws Chono and the REF LEAPS INTO CHONO TO TAKE A REF BUMP! LOL Muta introduces a table into the ring. He eats the table on a Back Handspring Elbow gone awry. Chono powerbombs Muta through the table (Muta seemed to bail on the piledriver last second, he was like nope). Chono puts him in that Butterfly Lock/Iron Cross thing that looks like shit. Muta either sprayed mist into Ref's eyes or something because triggers the DQ win for Chono. Team 2000 puts a beating on WCW's last warrior. MUTA SPRAYS CHONO WITH MIST AND MISS MADNESS HITS A MISSILE DROPKICK ON TENZAN AS WCW'S WARRIORS RETREAT! I was at 3 stars the chair/table and highspots were pretty good, but Miss Madness missile dropkicking Tenzan bumps this to *** 1/4

Keiji Mutoh vs Masahiro Chono - NJPW 1/4/00 Aaaaahhh January 2000 when WCW still existed, NWO civil wars were going on in two continents, the Three Musketeers were all in New Japan and Mutoh had refused to come to grips with his hair situation. Thanks to the Team 2000 Wiki Page for explaining this all to me. Chono got injured in 1999 and Mutoh took over NWO Japan. In a surprise move turned the group babyface. Chono was not happy with the direction of the group upon his return and formed Team 2000. Team 2000 seemed like mostly midcarders and Don Frye who is present looking cool as fuck. Chono for as much apathy as he inspires in me per usual also looks bitchin'. Mutoh has not yet shaven his head. This is Team 2000 vs NWO Japan. According to one source, this is the blowoff Chono wins and NWO Japan disbands. Another source says one month later in February Chono absorbs NWO Japan into his group giving him access to TenCozy (Tenzan & Kojima) which boosts the group's prestige. Inoki proved he could book a better end to the NWO than Bischoff and Co. It is interesting that Team 2000 would continue into 2002 until it is replaced by Makai Club as the number one heel faction with the Team 2000 members joining the babyface New Japan roster. I watched this match because I am going to watch their Triple Crown match tomorrow and I wanted to track the progress. It is pretty crazy that these two would headline All Japan's biggest show, their October Anniversary Show at the Budokan in 2001. Also this match does have a little bit of rep and I agree with everyone it is a great match and worthy of a match. This is not worked like some blood feud nor is Chono out their cheating his ass off and giving this great heel performance. This was very much a Championship Style match and if you went in blind you probably would have thought it was the IWGP Championship match (Tenryu/Sasaki was and was even better this, an awesome match that people should check out). I really enjoyed the customary, opening chain wrestling from these two. It really let you ease your way into the match. Chono goes for a Yakuza Kick and Mutoh goes for a dropkick to the knee and misses. A dropkick to the knee in January 2000, interesting, very interesting. Mutoh gets a takedown and a side headlock then a short arm scissors. Powerdriver Elbow which is usually the sign that Mutoh is ready to kick into the next gear. He misses the Back Handspring Elbow. He takes a gnarly bump on his head on a weird Samoan Drop. Mutoh Frankensteiner, but he cant capitalize because his neck is all fucked up. Chono Piledriver! Butterfly Lock to pressure the neck. Chono stuffs a Mutoh Dragon Leg Screw. A Dragon Leg Screw in January 2000, interesting, very interesting. Chono gets a cross armbreaker another piledriver and butterfly lock. Loving the psychology. Chono tries to piledriver Mutoh on an announce table. DRAGON LEG SCREW~! FUCK YEAH 2000S MUTOH! LETS FUCKING GO! It is nothing but dropkicks to the knee, Dragon Leg Screws and Figure-4s. God Bless. He throws in a Springboard Dropkick and a Top Rope Frankensteiner. I had no idea 21st Century Mutoh reinvention started this early. No Shining Wizard which according Google doesnt come into early 2001, but all knee-based offense is right here. Loved Chono reversing any offense he could into a Butterfly Lock to try to stymie Mutoh's offense. Mutoh says fuck it backbreaker->Moonsault. 1-2-NO! I bit on that honestly. Mutoh goes back to the Figure-4 into Chono the Butterfly Lock. The dueling submissions is great. Chono gets the legs up on the Moonsault. STF! Mutoh makes the ropes. Super STF and Chono wins and TEAM 2000 garners a major victory over NWO Japan. I dont really care for Chono much, but I liked this performance even if I still find him dry. He was laser-focused on the neck and the Butterfly Lock. Mutoh was awesome in this. I love 21st Century Mutoh and it was really cool to see everything besides the Shining Wizard in place by this time. Interested to see what they do in the Triple Crown match. ****

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Taiyo Kea - AJPW 3/3/01 Tenryu’s first title defense since winning the vacant Triple Crown October post-split. Until Mutoh & Kojima show up full-time, Tenryu & Kawada needed Kea to step up. Kea is still pushed after this but becomes a clear second priority to Mutoh and Kojima. This drew 4500 with a Kawada singlets match against Nagai on the undercard not bad. The numbers they drew in 2001-2003 are pretty crazy given the split. First thing to note is I didn’t have a complete version of this I think I lost 3 ish minutes to GAORA TV commercials from 2001 that popped me. I will just come out and say it and I prefer their 2002 Budokan match more than this but this was still very good. What was more interesting than the match was Kea’s offensive strategy. He was wrestling just like 21st Century Mutoh. Dropkicks to the knee, Dragon Leg Screws and a Figure-4. No Shining Wizard. I always earmarked 21st Century Mutoh Reinvention starting with Kawada Carnival match in April. This indicates to me it started earlier. When did Mutoh reinvent his style and introduce the Shining Wizard? Kea’s shine is ho-hum he establishes he can kick and work a headlock. Tenryu has enough of this and starts the match rocking with his usual shit: Stiff chops, catching Kea with a Powerbomb, lariat and general dickishness. Tenryu misses a Kappou Kick in the corner. Kea dropkicks the knee. TENRYU LIGHTS HIS ASS UP WITH A POTATO! Kea is able to dropkick the knee again now repeatedly. Dragon Leg Screw! Mutoh time baby! Love the struggle over the Dragon Leg Screw it make mean so much more. Figure-4! Tenryu makes the ropes and we get a commercial break. We miss how Tenryu gets back off offense. A pretty damn good fire fight breaks out. TENRYU IS PELTING HIM WITH POTATOES! Northern Lights Bomb is not enough because Kea has fighting spirit. Kea does the Kawada collapse on an Irish Whip. Couple Slugging Lariats get the job done for the champ. Was Tenryu ever in trouble? No. The point was too show that Kea was a game opponent with heart. They would use this strategy plan to yield even better results with Kojima next year. *** 1/2

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Genichiro Tenryu - AJPW 1/18/04 I am surprised this match is so overlooked. You can chalk it up to post-split All Japan put they pulled in 10k+ at the Budokan for Kawada’s title defenses against Frye and Hashimoto. It feels like after the Hashimoto match that the gap between All Japan the big two of New Japan and NOAH widens to the point of no return but they were still doing healthy numbers at this point. This match features Two of the Big Three of Post-Split All Japan (Muto being the other of course). Their 2000 Triple Crown decision match is considered the classic but man I loved This one a whole lot. I need to rewatch that 2000 match because I think I am going crazy high on this. I don’t know if it is because I haven’t seen a match worked like this in a while but fucking loved this. It was like a 90s All Japan match but with a ton of hate. They waste no time getting right to it. On a rope break lights Kawada up with a chop and it is off to the races. Tenryu being the fucking prick that he is starts chopping high to the throat so Kawada responds with a fully loaded potato and trying to kick his idol’s head off with some absolutely savage kicks. Nobody sells having their bell ring better than Tenryu (maybe Brock). They fight over a suplex on the apron after a Tenryu powder when that doesn’t go Kawada’s way, he rears back and blasts Tenryu with another kick to the head. The last focus of Kawada just blasting Tenryu in the head with kicks was awesome. Tenryu starts throwing chairs in the Ring out frustration. I loved the transition. Kawada comes charging in for another head rocking kick but Tenryu swings around with an Enziguri to send the champion reeling. Tenryu rattles off three big bombs: Spider German, Mack Truck Lariat and a Powerbomb. Then there’s a cool wrinkle we get some inverted psychology. Normally you do Limb work to set up the bombs bur after his bombs dont get the job done, rather than panicking Tenryu reasserts control with some wicked awesome leg work on Kawada. Appreciated the Mutoh style dragon leg screws, he sure wrestled him enough over the last two years. Loved Kawada fighting off his back so Tenryu just lets him get up so he can light up with chops and potatoes. Kawada’s comeback is full of piss & vinegar. This isn’t like today strike exchanges, the is feels like a fight and they driving demolish the other. Kawada looks like he has Tenryu reeling but runs into a Brick Wall Lariat. He powders. In the spot of the match, Tenryu whips a chair at a young boy trying to help Kawada. Tenryu lariat and Brainbuster only get two. Powerbomb nothing doing. Kawada rolls through a DDT AND KICKS TENRYUS HEAD OFF! Jumping High Kick! DANGEROUS BACK DROP DRIVER! 1-2-No! I thought that should have been the finish. We get the Stretch Plum. Kawada rifling Tenryu with kicks. Tenryu showing dogged old man ornery resistance bur Kawada just keeps blasting him in the head and Brainbuster wins it. God Bless Tenryu for taking head kick after head kick. I loved that constant focus of Kawada’s offensive strategy to just kick Tenryu’s head off. There was a real piss & vinegar to this match. Both men were energized. The last 5 minutes were electric. Loved Tenryu’s control segment. Transitions were tight. This one never let up from jump. Loved it **** 1/2

GHC Heavyweight Champion Takeshi Rikio vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NOAH 7/18/05 This is a very distant third to Kobashi/Sasaki and Misawa/Kawada which clearly drew the Tokyo Dome and the largest crowd in the Dome for the year even though New Japan ran the Dome three times in 2005. Perhaps I am misconstruing the situation but my read was that Rikio’s victory over Kobashi was supposed to be a generational shift but instead was a generational flop. To the point where I can’t think of an American comp. This would be like if Cena or Batista flopped so bad in 2005 they never heard from again. This really goes to show you it is all about promotion. Winning the Top Title in a Promotion doesn’t make you the Man. NOAH was definitely still Kobashi’s promotion with Misawa a solid #2. Putting Rikio third on depth chart and I would argue Tenryu/Ogawa was not far behind made the belt feel midcard and that Rikio had graduated to Top Guy status. Kobashi should have in my opinion successfully defended against Sasaki here and dropped the belt to Akiyama at the next show. Akiyama could and should have been the bridge to the next generation he taken for granted as already a made man but I think he never had true blue Ace run and he had it in him. To me that is what sunk Misawa’s Ark. The match itself does itself no favors. This match reinforces the conclusion from Nakanishi match that Tanahashi was not yet a ring general. With a veteran, Tanahashi could have great matches but with a peer or less the matches struggle to be better than average. I thought this was better than the Nakanishi match but ultimately forgettable and really not something that needs to be seen. The early chain wrestling nominally establishes the speed vs power game with Tanahashi getting a crossbody and roll-up. Tanahashi employed the same slapping strategy here as he did against Nakanishi I don’t if he was trying convey cockiness or get under Rikios skin but similarly to Nakanishi Rikio uses power to gain an advantage. Again there’s no charisma here. There no feeling of Oh No You Didnt or You Done Gone Fucked Up like you would if Kobashi or Hashimoto was in the Ring. Tanahashi used a sleeper pretty effectively and goes for the Dragon version. Rikio gets his own Dragon. This is where the match is better than Nakanishi, Rikio being trained in King’s Road style at least has cool offense like the top rope crossbody, jack hammer and buckle bomb. Tanahashi gets a reverse crossbody. Three suicide dives by Tanahashi consolidate the advantage but each one looks worse than the last. Tanahashi runs through finish sequence but this proto finish sequence is nowhere near as good as the one he would develop in 2007 a scant two years after this. Sling Blade is his big near fall. Rikio hits a clothesline and now it is his finish stretch. Slaps, Powerbomb, Zidane style headbutt which was cool and a Tejana Bomb finishes it. Pro wrestling by the numbers. No struggle, no urgency, no wrinkles, no interesting character work. Just fine. ***

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Hiroshi Tanahashi- NJPW 4/24/05 New Japan Cup Semifinals Winner faces Nakanishi in the finals. These two has a stone cold classic the year prior in the G-1 Climax they don’t quite hit those levels but this is still very good. Tenzan just brings a certain energy to his matches and sets that tone early that his opponent will be in a fight. Tanahashi is no asskicker like Kawada but he can stick and move (reverse crossbody) and grab holds (headlocks and armbar). Tenzan is in all his clubbering glory in this match. Tanahashi gets caught going up top with a super plex and now it really all Tenzan. TENZAN FALLING HEADBUTT TO THE BALLS! My wife is asleep next to me while I watched this and it took all it had in me not to pop for that. What an awesome high spot. The best part is he argues to the ref it was to the inner thigh brilliant. Top Rope Headbutt. Tenzan looks to be cruising to an easy win when he MISSES the moonsault which is classic Tenzan. Tanahashi is off to the races. Hurling his body at Tenzan. German Suplex! Dragon Sleeper! Tanahahsi goes for a running small package but Tenzan quashes this comeback with a Tenzan Driver then a moonsault. Anaconda Vice and it looks like it is all she wrote. I love how he throws Tanahashi down with the standing Anaconda Vice. I forgot to mention I loved how Tanahashi popped free when Tenzan originally put it on. It touches like that make pro wrestling just so much more intriguing. Tanahashi is able to stand and as Tenzan goes to throw him down Tanahashi reverses into a small package for the win! What an upset! Tenzan was the most recent IWGP Champion and would go onto regain it from Kojima in less than a months time. Basically until he drops it to Fujita I would say Tenzan was the biggest star in New Japan from December 2004-July 2005 as Nagata was barely used in 2005. So this was a big win for Tanahashi! I thought they did a good job telling the story of the plucky underdog versus the bully heel plus that falling Headbutt to the balls was epic! *** 3/4

Toshiaki Kawada vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan- NJPW 8/4/05 Tenzan really brought the fire out of Kawada in this match. I have seen this piss & vinegar out of Kawada in quite some time. What Tenzan does so well is he always threatening to eat Kawada alive which is not a sensation you get in today’s sanitized overly choreographed version of pro wrestling. Kawada is fighting for his life in there against the one of best bully wrestlers. They set the tone early with some lively chain wrestling. A lot of New Japan chaining can feel perfunctory but there was energy in this. Tenzan bowls Kawada over with a shoulder tackle. Now Kawada is a bit wary of Tenzan. They go into a strike battle. Kawada throws a mean elbow. All Japan boys really let it fly. Tenzan Mongolian Chop bun Kawada Spin Heel Kick wins the battle. Tenzan does some great bully wrestling crowding Kawada in the corner hitting some big back elbows. Then it is classic Tenzan with the clubbering headbutts and stomps. He misses a top rope headbutt. Kawada drops him on his head with two Dangerous Backdrop Drivers and when Tenzan powders Kawada adds wicked big boot to prove he is King of the Mountain. What really kicks this match into the next gear is this next segment. Kawada goes for his usual Single Leg Crab with a the foot on the head. Tenzan is having nothing of it. Kawada POUNCES on Tenzan with a side headlock. Tenzan goes for the eyes. This becomes a terrific scrap. Tenzan is struggling with everything he has to break free. Kawada is suffocating Tenzan with different looks on the holds. This is my type of pro wrestling. Tenzan throws a Mongolian Chop and Kawada unleashes a fury of kicks not seen from him since 20th Century. Tenzan like the Creature of the Black Lagoon just keeps rising. He keeps back dropping Kawada out of the powerbomb. At one point he grabs a Kawada kick unleashes hell on the knee and punches to the midsection. Tenzan comes roaring back. Top Rope Headbutt and when that doesn’t get it done. Anaconda Vice. He is really wrenching. He misses the Moonsault. Kawada POWERBOMB! He really had to work for it. He is going for the Brainbuster but Tenzan fights through it. TENZAN DRIVER! Ugly But Effective Moonsault. Tenzan Right Knee Crushed Kawada’s Chest! Nasty! ANACONDA VICE! They really milk this! This feels like the finish. Kawada makes the ropes. This one part I didn’t like in an otherwise great match Kawada just gets up and starts throwing ‘bows. They are great strikes. It takes a shit ton of jumping head kicks and a PK to win it but goddamn Kawada gets it done. Fabulous performance by Tenzan to really bring the asskicker back out of Kawada! Really dug this. **** 1/4

Genichiro Tenryu vs Mitsuharu Misawa - NOAH 11/5/05 Talk about a dream match ten years too late. I hate to use the word to describe this, but when Tenryu fell backwards on his ass on the Powerbomb attempt I chocked it up to bad luck, but then the next suplex you could just tell something was wrong. The old gunslinger had fired his last rounds. Misawa honestly did not look much better. Matches like this with big names on a high-profile show that no one talk about can lead to hidden treasure or great disappointments. This was definitely the latter. Tenryu gets a cheeky back heel trip to embarrass Misawa on the first rope break. Misawa spooks Tenryu with an elbow. We are all even on the humiliation scale. Tenryu goads Misawa into a left-handed handshake. Tenryu hits a very soft, gentle Kappou Kick which Misawa sells like Kobashi had just chopped him in the neck. Tenryu attacks the neck. Suplex on the ramp. General neck attacks. Tenryu wakes me, the crowd and Misawa up with a PUNT to the face and you can see the imprint of Tenryu's bootlaces on Misawa's face! Nasty! Best part of the match. Misawa ROCKS him with Elbows and Elbow Suicida. Misawa gets his receipt with a wicked kick to Tenryu's face. It becomes Misawa's elbows versus Tenryu's chops and punches. Tenryu is totally fine when he throws the Superplex and his trademark reverse top rope elbow. Something weird happens on his powerbomb and suplex/brainbuster. Misawa ends up taking us home with his trademark Elbows, a Tiger Driver and a Blow Away Elbow. I wonder if he took us home early. There are some good individual spots, there are times when it drags and times when it is sad. It is borderline ***, but I dont think I can give it that.

Genichiro Tenryu vs Yoshinari Ogawa - NOAH 7/18/05 Tenryu beating the ever loving shit out of Rat Boy sounds like a recipe for success at the Dome but this doesn’t get to Tenryu commuting legalized murder of KENTA or the satisfaction of Kobashi destroying Ogawa. It perfectly fine good little match but you’re not missing much by not watching this. Ogawa tries to go blow for blow with grumpy, lumpy Tenryu but that doesn’t go well. He does a pretty bad Stampeded style escape from a wrist lock. Then does so Rat Boy thing with the quick dropkick to the knee and zeroing in on the knee including a figure-4 around the post. Tenryu fires back! Rat Boy goes to the eyes and uses a head scissors takeover to bring him to the outside. He tries to use a table but Tenryu bashes Ogawa’s skull into it. He is just TRUCKING him with lariats. They throw in a couple Dangerous Back Drop Drivers to give Ogawa a couple near falls. Tenryu keeps clobbering with Lariats and a Brainbuster to win. It is not incredible but still a good match. ***

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Satoshi Kojima vs Kensuke Sasaki – AJPW 11/19/05 TAKE THAT DREAM! Always gets me pumped up! I cant believe in 2005 Stan Hansen cant correctly pronounce “Kensuke”. Kojima is over like rover with this crowd. The All Japan crowds are basically cut in half from the 2003-2004 era, but man these 5000-6000 people fucking love Kojima. I have to admit I have really grown fond of the hip soccer mom about to do the Numa Numa dance mutafucka. However that being said… This is an incredible Sasaki offensive performance and it is Kojima that brings this match down a peg. Kojima does not bring anything different to the table. He comes across as a poor man’s Sasaki. This is not Kobashi vs Sasaki at the Dome where two equals, two big burly meat heads were just laying into each other. Every time Kojima was going that route he didn’t look nearly as good as Sasaki. It was glaring on every chop exchange or lariat that Sasaki was hitting harder and his shit was just better looking. I still enjoyed the match and just like the crowd they whipped me into a frenzy BUT I have to go back to my biggest issue with Kojima he just doesn’t have his own identity. He was trying too hard to be a little bit of every big star from 90s rather than finding what worked for him. I think the plucky underdog that everyone loves was a place to start, but it is too late now. He is capable of great things and I really enjoyed his matches with Tenryu and Hashimoto. I liked this as well, but it falls short of great for that reason. I really enjoyed the shoulder tackle battle to start. Sasaki really bowls him over and that sets the tone that Sasaki has come to play. I thought Sasaki’s chops looked great and probably felt terrible. When Kojima came back with those dinky elbows it just paled in comparison with what I just saw from Sasaki. I think there was a way to get Kojima on offense but I wish he didn’t try to go toe to toe with Sasaki but rather used a different strategy to gain the advantage. That being said Kojima was WAY MORE OVER than Sasaki. Big Kojima at the opening bell and when he did a Finger Gun before an elbow drop the whole crowd shouted something in unison. I thought Sasaki’s work on the outside was awesome. The big top rope crossbody which is a staple of his wiped out Kojima. The powerslam followed by the Northern Lights Bomb was sick! It was an electric moment. This is an area where Kojima excelled in really milking this moment and getting the crowd behind. They really let Northern Lights Bomb on the Floor feel like a turning point in the match. Big Kojima chants ring out. Sasaki Bulldozes him with a lariat to show he is King of the Mountain. When Kojima does get back in, Sasaki just manhandles him and puts on a great offensive display of throws, slams (Tejana Bomb!) and Lariat Sandwich. Again it is the transition back to Kojima’s offense that fails them as they running the ropes Kojima who has just taken all this badass high impact offense, just grabs a couple Ace Crushers to transition. Funnily enough, it is Sasaki who throws either a Dragon or German Suplex to do the levelling playing field spot as if he was the one who was coming from behind. The crowd loudly chants for Kojima. Kojima is pretty much in control in the home stretch. He wins the battle of next big high impact move Emerald Flowsion versus the Northern Lights Bomb. I really appreciated how stiff his knees were to the top of Sasaki’s head to counter the Northern Lights Bomb. You felt the desperation and urgency. Then it becomes a Lariat battle. I liked each man lariating the other’s Lariat. It is Kojima with Hansen in attendance BLASTING away at Sasaki to win with a barrage of Lariats. Sasaki hands down has the better lariat, BUT when it came crunch time, those two Kojima lariats at the end delivered the goods. Sasaki’s offensive performance and like the crowd I was whipped into frenzy is enough to put this in great territory, BUT Kojima’s transitions to offense keep this at ****.

@ohtani's jacket, I am not too surprised about the post-2001 Muto work holding up. It is rooted in the things we tend to like and value. A consistent offensive strategy, body part psychology and pays off into logical, climatic finish run. It may not always be ***** classic, but I know prefer 21st Century Muto to 20th Century but Muto no matter the century is very mercurial. He can have classics in matches you have never heard of and then have stinkers in big time, high profile main events. Keiji Muto vs Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW 7/13/03 - #1 Contender's Match After a string of various combinations of Muto/Kawada/Tenryu, All Japan is forced to bring the last big time freelancer, Shinya Hashimoto to be champion. Hashimoto won the Triple Crown off the Great Muta earlier in the year and had a kickass title defense against Kojima the month prior. Unfortunately, it seems he got injured as Hashimoto vacated the title shortly after this and Kawada won the Triple Crown in a match against Ohtani (AJPW vs Zero-One was the big feud at the time). Interesting, they never had Kawada defend against Muto or Muta during his 1+ year title reign. We do eventually get the Hashimoto match in February 2004 in Budokan to what I think was All Japan last impressive attendance showing of 10k+ in attendance. Muto and Kawada have a low-key intriguing rivalry with the 2001 Classic in Champions Carnival, the polarizing 2002 Budokan Sellout and then this in 2003. I dont think this reached the heights of the 2001 classic, but I liked it more than the 2002 match. I am thinking I should watch the 2002 match back at some point. The chain wrestling is a bit tepid to start, BUT something interesting does come out of it. Muto grabs a pretty deep toehold, BUT Kawada converts into a cross-armbreaker. This sets up the first hook of the match. Kawada really zeros-in on the arm. Muto being Muto means the selling isnt the best and I wish the Kawada offense had a little more zing, but it is consistent. Muto still works in his trademark Powerdriver Elbow and Kawada his trademark Heel Kick. My favorite part of the match was when Muto went for the first Dragon Leg Screw and Kawada pancaked him. Kawada really struggled not to let it happen and that really sold that moment huge. For someone who has watched a ton of post-2001 Muto it was nice to see an opponent sell how much they didnt want the Dragon Leg Screw to happen. I thought they let Muto get the Dragon Leg Screw too easily and too shortly thereafter. I would have loved to see him really earn it. Kawada sells it like death. Kawada besides maybe Savage is the best knee seller of all time. So these two go together like peanut butter and jelly. Here come the dropkicks. I liked how Kawada tried to continue to mount a comeback using head rocking kicks and head drop suplexes, but Muto was a pitbull dog on the knee. The Dangerous Backdrop Driver into the Shining Wizard was a good way to show the desperation and urgency on both men's parts. Mutoh then goes for the kill with the Figure-4. Kawada makes the ropes and again tries to Kick his way out of trouble, but Mutoh drop toeholds and into STF. Then we get TWO MORE FIGURE-4s. The heat for the 3rd one is off the charts as Fuchi is threatening to the throw in the towel for Kawada and as the ref is looking at Fuchi, Mutoh pulls Kawada away from the ropes as he is holding the rope. The heat was crazy. Muto gets frustrated that he cant put Kawada away with Figure-4. He clocks him with a Shining Wizard in the corner and the finish looks academic as Muto goes for his patented backbreaker-Moonsault combo, BUT he lands awkward on his knees and this gives Kawada the opening he needs to mount his comeback. Kawada's use of elbows to Muto's head to open up the comeback sequence was appreciated as well as the jumping high kicks in how he sold that. The way he did the Brainbuster and Powerbombs that polished Muto off you got the feeling he was doing it on one leg. From a layout perspective, I thought this was awesome. I just felt like there was something missing from the performance. They just didnt grab me by the balls. The match really kicked into gear with the barrage of Figure-4s and I was hooked from there. I just thought there were a lot of tepid stretches in the front half. A match I would say is safely great, but not a classic in my eyes. I want to rewatch the February 2002 match again now. ****

Toshiaki Kawada vs Minoru Suzuki - NJPW 8/11/05 A pretty intriguing match on paper as Kawada is a part of the 2005 G-1 Climax. Kawada was still capable of great stuff in 2005 see the January Sasaki match, the February Kojima match and the July Misawa match. I run pretty hot and cold with the mercurial Minoru Suzuki so he is not a shoe-in for a great match but I really enjoyed the Kobashi match from January. Overall I thought this was good not great and the home stretch really didn’t land for me. They do a symmetrical beginning which each wrestler slapping and beating down the other until the other is forced from the Ring. Kawada was on offense second so transitions into his control segment which is pedestrian. He does his single leg crab and general clubbering. Suzuki does not really do any interesting selling or struggle. Suzuki gets a flash Arm bar to transition out which I liked. He does some round kicks to the arm which Kawada sells well. I really liked the battle of knee lifts in the corner which I was hoping would fulfill our strike exchange quota for the match. There was a real sense of desperation and urgency to the knee lifts. The match comes Suzuki’s choke versus Kawada’s head rocking offense. Suzuki keeps going for the choke bur Kawada dumps him on his head with a Dangerous Back Drop Driver. It takes a couple of those, a kick to the head and a Brainbuster to really make in-roads and Suzuki is determined to get the choke. Suzuki gets a great flash knee bar counter to a Kawada kick that is sold really well. Unfortunately the match devolves into a powerslap pissing contest. They try to start throwing potatoes but Suzuki’s are really glaringly pulled. Kawada who throws a good potato takes a while to really connect. Then goes full Misawa with the elbows and Suzuki gets KO’d and Kawada sits on him for the win. There was a great match in here of Minoru Suzuki the counter wrestling getting flash submission on the All Japan classical pro wrestler and then finding out is that the high impact of Kawada or the superior counter wrestling of Suzuki that wins the day but there is too much downtime and random shit to call this anymore than good. ***