Superstar Sleeze

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Satoshi Kojima - NJPW 3//19/00 The full version is up on New Japan World if people want to see it. Sasaki‘s second straight title defense against Team 2000 having vanquished Don Frye the previous month. Im surprised we never got a Chono challenge in the year 2000 perhaps if All Japan stays together and there’s no Kawada match in October that would have headlined there??? A very 21st century match as there are some great parts and some iffy parts. All in all it is still very good, but isn’t quite great. It is a good resume padder for Kensuke who will always be in my Top 100 but matches like this keep him with an upward momentum. This is the earliest Kojima match I have ever seen not quite as fun as he would become. The element of the beginning I liked was how every sequence ended with the Champion coming out on top. With Hashimoto and Mutoh winding down in New Japan, you had to go all in on Sasaki. When Kojima started off hot, Sasaki pie faces. When Kojima wants to go submissions, Sasaki almost wraps him in an STF (the leader of Team 2000, Chono took umbrage to that, protesting on the apron). When Kojima slows it down with tests of strength, Sasaki suplexes him. Sasaki runs through a quick big bomb offense like his Special Armdrag and Tejana Bomb. While I loved the beats and story, transitions and connective tissue were lackluster. I had the match in the good category but they did elevate it with a nice, timely chop block by Kojima. Chono was up on the apron offering to throw in the towel for Sasaki. Great performance by Chono as Kojima’s second. Leg work here was so good. Kojima employed a great varied leg based attack and Sasaki sold it well. This is pre-Mutoh but we still get a healthy dose of dragon leg screw and the Figure-4. The chop block replaced the dropkick to the knee which we don’t see. It was nice to see a knee crusher have not seen that in a while. In addition to his knee work, Kojima loved an Ace Crusher so we got three variations on that. I was just enjoying the mix of leg work and bombs. Then the best part of the match happens when the Champ looks like he is on the verge of losing the title…he hauls off and CLOCKS KOJIMA WITH A CLOSED FIST! We almost get a bench clearing brawl! Chono & Team 2000 are protesting on the apron and Sasaki’S boys follow suit but there no blows. Sasaki fires off two more awesome punches. The leg work through punches was fucking awesome. The finish stretch gets a little too bomb happy and feels more All Japan. Sasaki does sell the leg pretty well on the comeback with a Scorpion Deathlock on Kojima and lariat to Kojima’s leg on the apron. Then it becomes an All Japan match. Trading Lariats and German suplexes for one-counts. Kojima wriggles out of a Northern Lights Bomb into a weird armbar that I have never seen him use. It was a very odd place for the finish stretch and he just relinquished the hold. Weird. Kojima tries Northern Light Bomb but collapses. Sasaki polished him off with Northern Lights Bomb and Burning Lariat. A very All Japan finish. I wonder what Inoki thought. Sasaki was always the most All Japan-y of the New Japan boys. Probably the reason I like him so much is that he is a Kobashi, just a little smaller, less emotional but replaces that emotion/heart with Choshu Rock & Roll edge. From the Kojima chop block to Sasaki punch, this is fucking awesome. On either side it is a little rocky but this still good. Cant quite go 4 stars, but another very good Sasaki title defense in his signature run. *** 3/4

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojim vs Toshiaki Kawada & Mitsuya Nagai - NJPW 9/16/01 Last legs of New Japan vs All Japan feud which started a year prior. Kawada dumped Fuchi for Nagai as his partner in 2001 which would lead to the unreal RWTL finals. This is neither the 12/11/00 classic or the 2001 RWTL Finals. This is surprisingly boring and I say surprisingly as I like 3/4ths guys a lot and just havent seen much of Nagai. TenCozy who is on their last legs as a tag team jump the All Japan boys before the bell but that doesn’t really lead to much. The first seven or so minutes not much happens honestly. Tenzan misses a top rope diving Headbutt and sells like he has been KO’d by Stan Hansen’s lariat. It was really 0 to 60 oversell that didn’t even realize was happening when all of sudden Nagai doing one foot covers and Tenzan was collapsing on whips like he was Kawada. I was like lol what? Kojima screams “TENZAN~!” At the top of his lungs for like ten minutes. Seems like a little much. Kawada/Nagai’s heat segment wasn’t all that interesting outside one Dangerous Backdrop Driver. Kawada goes for the Powerbomb Tenzan counters and we get a decent hot tag from Kojima. Finger gun elbow. Powerbomb. They trade attacking each others Lariat Arm and Kawada gets the better with a Stretch Plum. Kojima gets the better of Nagai with an Ace Crusher. Tenzan gets his hot tag. The Kawada/Nagai near fall is a big boot into a German. After Kojima blasts Kawada with a lariat, Tenzan hits a Tenzan Driver and a Tenzansault to win. It was a pretty dull match and not something I will remember next week.

Keiji Mutoh vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 4/10/02 I am so annoyed with this match. I love formula because once it has been established any deviation generates thrill im the viewer. I have watched damn near every major Mutoh match from 2001-2002 so finding a match where he uses his dropkicks to the knee & a dragon leg screw to se up ARM work makes me go from 6 to midnight. When Kojima went down to one knee, I was like a bit early for the Shining Wizard. He dropkicked the Arm and stayed on the arm with dropkicks. Oh he dragon leg screw, back to Figure-4, NOPE Top Wristlock in the Side Mount and sold like a submission. It was so awesome but every other aspect of this match he did the lamest thing possible. I want to like Kojima so bad but he is just so mediocre. The only thing I thought this match did better than their 2001 bout was teasing the finishers early with a blocked Shining Wizard and blocked lariat. The New Japan chain wrestling to open was fine. Kojima’s control segment was pedestrian. He kinda sorta went after the knee. He kinda sorta also just chopped Mutoh. He ran through some of his customary early offense the somersault and finger gun Elbow drop. The 2001 he was really throwing Mutoh tactics back in his face. He hits a Powerbomb. Mutoh just gets up and dropkicks his knee. Lame. Your turn is over. Now it is my turn. Lame. Lame. Lame. That turns into the most interesting portion of the match as I covered above. The only thing I want to add to Mutoh control segment that I thought was cool was how Kojima blocked Shining Wizard attempt which hurt his arm and then on the Lariat attempt Mutoh easily repelled it and it hurt Kojima’s Arm more. That was sick. Mutoh works a cross Armbreaker as his capper out of his top rope Frankensteiner. It was tasteful; appropriate Selling be close enough to the ropes that it didn’t feel cheap. What did feel cheap was Kojima just hitting an Ace Crusher. Your turn is over. Now it is my turn. Lame. Lame. Lame. Lariat! Shining Wizard! A tribute to 90s All Japan. What puts the match in my good graces enough to call it good is that Mutoh uses a Flying Armbar to finish Kojima with a cross Armbreaker to pay off the arm work. So I’ll go *** 1/4 but it could have been so much more!

Mark Coleman & Mark Kerr vs Yuji Nagata & Takahashi Iizuka - Inoki Bom Bae Ye 12/31/00 I am 3/4ths done with my Mark Kerr Complete & Accurate just need to find his singles match against Dick Vrij in Zero-One. From a strictly Mark Kerr perspective, I enjoyed his work in Zero-1 more than here where he was Double Leg machine in Z-1. I feel like Mark Coleman who wore a Goldberg shirt to the ring was the real star of the team. Nagata & Iizuka are coming off their 5 star classic against Kawada & Fuchi but they don’t really stand much of a chance against the Marks. Coleman rips a couple great suplexes on Iizuka the junior partner of the Japanese team. The gut wrench looked great. Kerr immediately throws a kick which I thought was bizarre but it served as an opening for Iizuka to catch and drag him to Nagata. Nagata worked hard to get a cross arm breaker. I love the wrestler in Kerr to counter that by bridging. Even though Kerr is able to get a couple takedowns, he is treated as the Junior partner of the Marks with Japanese able to get offense on him. The pro wrestling starts to kick in with Kerr in the ropes and Iizuka stomping him. Coleman gets the tag. HE VAULTS OVER THE ROPES AND RIPS IIZUKA DOWN WITH A THROW! Great throw into the ground & pound. Iizuka gets him to the corner and Nagata uses Headbutts in the ropes again pro wrestling. He uses that to get a leg lock on Coleman who sells it really well. Coleman counters and into strikes to tag in Kerr. Kerr great knees and throw on Nagata and goes for the Cross Armbreaker. Again Kerr uses a kick as a way to feed the Japanese. Nagata excellent Northern Lights. He goes for a Cross Armbreaker But can’t get it on. Great Kerr knee but Nagata throws him. Iizuka throws Kerr and gets a leg lock. Kerr is the one they get offense on. Kerr articles out and tags to Coleman who vaults over and had a real star aura to him. Iizuka crowds in the corner with forearms. Again three times now the pro wrestlers are using the ropes & corner to smother the more proficient Marks to gain an advantage. They hold Coleman in replace while one dropkicks him. Again Pro Wrestling tactics. NAGATA HIGH KICK KNOCKS COLEMAN DOWN! We get a seven count. Coleman Big Alabama Slam style Double Leg into Ground & Pound and Anaconda Vice as surprisingly it is Nagata that taps out. The Marks were heavy favorites but didn’t think Nagata would take the fall. This felt like a really good wrestling-oriented MMA exhibition. The two things I really liked were Coleman’s aura and pro wrestlers using pro wrestling tactics to gain advantages. I think Kerr would have also been a fun pro wrestler but it is a really shame Coleman didnt go for a Shamrock or Frye style run. *** 1/2

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Takahashi Iizuka - NJPW 7/20/00 Sasaki is in the middle of his peak run as New Japan Ace. Iizuka is famous for three matches against the Steiners, the 1/4/00 tag with Hashimoto against the UFO Shooters and the 12/11/00 tag with Nagata against the All Japan Invaders. Pretty safe to say the year 2000 was his peak. I did f even remember what he looked like never mind his style. I was pretty interested in this match because Champion versus unknown commodity is the best way to understand how a Champion envisions his reign. Sasaki versus Kawada was a match of equals. This is not. So how do you work that? Call me crazy but I loved this. This is a real feather in Sasaki’s cap. It shows his versatility, Ring generalship and ingenuity, Even though it was a competitive squash for most of the match, I was engaged, the work was compelling and Sasaki delineated a clear sense of hierarchy. Sasaki established not only his superiority in the power game: bowling over Iizuka, taking him down at will, countering a hold with Bob Backlund lift, but also the ground game he does a great monkey lift into an armbreaker attempt, he works in and out of guard well and generally is able to counter submissions well. Iizuka’s first strategy seems to be piss off Sasaki as he realizes he is not the better wrestler. He smacks Sasaki around but Sasaki flips him into a mount but Sasaki’s overzealousness presents the opportunity for Iizuka to target the legs which was smart psychology. When Sasaki escapes that, that ends the opening New Japan chain wrestling but that is some of the best opening chaining you’ll see it is not perfunctory they really establish the story in that. Sasaki is ready to turn this into a pro style big bomb match which Iizuka is totally outgunned for. Iizuka’s next strategy is to target a body part which I figured would be his best strategy as when someone has a clear advantage in multiple aspects of the game injuring a body part closes the gap. Since Sasaki was smoking him with lariats Iizuka dropkicks the arm as if to say fuck You stop that shit. Iizuka works some great arm holds and Sasaki sells well. The peak of this is when stubborn Sasaki goes for the Tejana Bomb but leaves himself open for the cross armbreaker. While this is Iizuka’s best opening of the match I would hardly say Sasaki is in trouble bur he hauls off and PUNCHES HIM! Iizuka sells it like death. I thought that reeked of too much desperation by Sasaki we weren’t there yet in my opinion. Sasaki powerslam gets two. Sasaki goes for a lariat armbar takedown into a choke. Now here comes the real Iizuka finish stretch. It is a barrage of Exploders and Chokes. They really milk the Chokes. I think the Punch would have worked better here because now desperation has set in. However I loved the use of Sasaki’s special arm drag to counter the standing choke. Two more of those a couple clubbing lariats and a Northern Lights Bomb and Sasaki gets a definitive win even though he almost blew it. Perfect champion versus have no chance midcarder. Champion clearly demonstrates why he is the champion. Challenger tries a couple different strategies one eventually sticks. Champion gets desperate. Things get a little dicey for the Champion but they find an opening, accelerate through the hole and finish strong. Great pro wrestling ****

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Scott Norton - NJPW 3/17/01 Man if you were Kensuke in January you must have thought you were sitting pretty you just won IWGP Title back at the Biggest Show of the Year against inter promotional rival Kawada, Hashimoto is leaving to form Zero-One, Mutoh had one foot out the door to All Japan. You were poised to be the Ace of the biggest promotion in Japan leading it into 21st century. Two months later your dropping the belt to fucking Scott Norton so he could transition it to Inoki’s shiny new toy, Kazuyuki Fujita. What a roller coaster. Weird match. Liked some of it but strange finish. They do a bunch of good Clash of Titans shit. Tight lock ups, test of strength, chops and shoulder block battles. Two alpha rams type shit. Sasaki hits a sick cross body block through ropes onto the floor. Exposes the floor and bodyslams Norton on it. Great suplex struggle on the apron that Sasaki win. This I all love. Sasaki throws one too many lariats so Norton’s catches him in a slam and then A shoulder breaker. Even when I was a little kid I always thought Norton should follow up the shoulder breaker with an armbar or something it looks weird as a finisher. Scott Hall is here. Norton’s still has NWO gear even though Final Nitro is around now. Norton gets a long chinlock. Sasaki transition is lame he just takes over. Loved the Lariat to the knee along the apron. Great chop block. Sasaki struggles with an inverted figure-4. This is where the match gets weird as they had a good thing going with the battle of the bulls and now leg psychology but instead they just start throwing bombs. They fuck up a pump handle slam. Norton throws in a flash roll up which I bite on because it would protect Kensuke. Powerbomb but nope. Sasaki just roars back with that Arn drag thing he does such a strange transition. Tejana Bomb. 1-2No! Clobbers him with a Lariat. Nope, winds up again but Norton ducks and flattens him with his own for the shock win, This must have been very surprising at the time. Finish stretch was weird but the body of the match was entertaining. Sasaki as Ace we hardly knew ya. ***

IWGP Heavyweight Kensuke Sasaki vs Don Frye - NJPW 2/5/00 Sasaki’s first title defense after defeating Tenryu for the title in a great match at the 1/4 Dome show. Frye is getting a pretty decent push as a top gaijin and a prominent member of the top heel stable, Team 2000, an NWO spinoff group. I need to watch more Shamrock but Frye looks to be every bit as good as Shamrock but in a company that understands how to use him better. Frye doesn’t give other worldly shooter vibes like Ogawa or Fujita but rather a classical pro wrestler who uses a lot of submissions. Rheingans his trainer is with him. Frye bows up to Sasaki and manhandles him with three suplexes. It was a bit too easy for my liking and I was worried for a second but all my worries were allayed this turned into a great match not as great the Kawada Triple Crown match but every fun. Sasaki clearly worked a different style match and really showed his range. He toned down his typical high spots and worked the mat more and just stuck to throwing lariats. I am appreciated the submission work of both men. For instance Sasaki was always thinking submission he did a leg, cross armbreaker and a choke. Frye has a nice organic counter to the ankle lock which he transitioned into a ground and pound while in Sasaki’s guard. Fete’s headbutts looked wicked. Sasaki rearing back and throwing lariats looked good. Loved Frye working a lot of wristlocks and a great Fujiwara armbar takedown. Really liked Sasaki muscling up Frye out of the double wrist lock and hitting a Fireman’s Carry going right into the cross armbreaker. I liked how the slams, throws and takedowns were set ups for a submission finish rather than the finish themselves. I thought Frye’s punches looked good and also something as simple as jumping off the apron and elbowing Sasaki showed he has classical pro wrestling training. I loved Sasaki grabbing the knee bar after some big lariats and Frye selling he was Curt Hennig who was his trainer it seems. Sasaki even does the kick to the back of the knee and Frye does the perfect sell. The Sasaki lariat to the bad knee on the apron was awesome, I think I would have liked the Scorpion Deathlock finish more than the barrage of lariats that finished it but I get that you had to keep legit shooter badass Don Frye strong and tapping out doesn’t achieve that. A really fun Inokiist match where there’s just enough shoot style to make it feel different without it getting weird. This really shows Sasaki’s range. *** 3/4 .

Surprised there is no talk of Rick Steiner. Love his powerslam and love a good Steinerline. He is not someone who I seriously considered last time, but I could see my fellow Wolverine sneaking in my bottom ten. Go Blue!

Thanks Paul! I will try to watch & review next week.

All Japan World Tag Team Champions Genichiro Tenryu & Yoji Anjoh vs Keiji Mutoh & Taiyo Kea - AJPW 10/22/01 The rematch from the Main Event of the September Budokan. October Budokan would feature Mutoh vs Chono and Tenryu vs Kea so no Tag Team Title match. The Tag Team Championship situation does way downhill after this and never recovers We get about 7 minutes of a 20 minutes match. It is interesting in both this and the Budokan match Mutoh really takes a backseat to Kea. I think until Kojima 2002 push started they really saw Kea as their only future hope. Anjoh hits his piledriver into a cross arm breaker again on Kea helluva way to enter a match. Kea makes his comeback against Tenryu. Mutoh comes in does 2001 Mutoh things on Tenryu. But Anjoh breaks up the Figure-4. Anjoh dropkicks Mutoh’s knee which I love and puts a sick inverted Figure-4. Tenryu loses the advantage to a Mutoh Frankensteiner. Kea looked good in the finish run. His kick combo looked awesome and he has a great top rope splash. Tenryu throws him off on a swinging DDT attempt. But he nails it on Anjoh. Mutoh does an ugly Shining Wizard off of Anjoh’s back to Tenryu. Mutoh Shining Wizard to Anjoh. Kea hits a TKO to win the All Japan World Tag Team titles. What we saw wasn’t as good as the September in my opinion. Around *** would be my guess.

AJPW World Tag Team Champions Genichiro Tenryu & Yoji Anjoh vs Keiji Mutoh & Taiyo Kea - AJPW 9/8/01 I have not seen Anjoh in forever! How the hell are you brutha? Dude is good craic, I should see him more often. Tenryu & Anjoh won the tag team titles from Kea & Johnny Smith. Kea has upgraded his partner to the reigning Triple Crown champion Keiji Mutoh. This headlined the September Budokan show with 12,800 in attendance not a bad figure and the only undercard support of note was Kawada & Nagai taking on Chono & Barton. Surprisingly for a Budokan main event, this is clipped we get 11 minutes of a 20 minute match. What we saw is very entertaining but without seeing the first 9 minutes I don’t feel comfortable rating it. We open with Kea on control of Tenryu but he tags out to Anjoh. Oh there’s a funny bit before the match begins where Tenryu big times All Japan President Stan Hansen when handing over the belts but Anjoh very quickly relinquishes them and bows to Hansen, I immediately love Anjoh again. So Kea is in control and takes exception to some Tenryu interference. Tenryu throws a tantrum over Kea whacking him, trying to grab the announce table but Hansen stops Tenryu. Tenryu gets his revenge by pulling down the top rope on Kea and then whipping him hard chest first into the railing. Anjoh hits a piledriver into a cross-armbreaker. Be still my beating shoot style heart. Anjoh drops a knee on bicep. This whole stretch was awesome. I really enjoyed the heat segment on Kea. Kea gets an enziguiri on Tenryu and Mutoh comes in and it is 2001 so you know the drill dropkicks to the knee, dragon leg screw and figure-4. Anjoh breaks it up and starts throwing Mutoh around with Saito Suplexes. Mutoh is able to wrest control and it is stereo Figure-4s! Doesn’t matter if it is Greensboro or Tokyo that shit is over. It is funny Mutoh is clearly feeding his chin to Anjoh on the second Figure-4 attempt but there’s a pregnant pause before Anjoh realizes he is supposed to clock Mutoh to stop the Figure-4. Mutoh gets his frankensteiner on the incoming Tenryu. Tag out to Kea. Kea gets the big near fall run with a Powerbomb and his patented kick combination. Funny moment Kea gets Tenryu in a Triangle and Anjoh wraps Mutoh into submission but realizes if he doesn’t relinquish and save Tenryu the titles are lost. His face tells a perfect story. Anjoh with kicks and elbows sets Tenryu up to polish Kea off with a Powerbomb and Brainbuster. I like 2001 Mutoh a lot but he played a very small role in this. I really enjoyed the Tenryu & Anjoh team. Great chemistry, they really complement each other well. Kea took a lickin and kept on tickin. This felt 3.5 +/- 0.25 star. Very entertaining would watch the whole thing.

I believe I read somewhere that if someone does not comment in this thread or elsewhere for a candidate since 2016 that the candidate might have the nomination rescinded well I CANNOT let that stand as Fujita Jr Hayato's biggest fan (I was the high voter for him last time) and he is on my bubble for this go around but he is in consideration. I was thinking about him the other day. He is like the best possible Hook. This punk kid that does not give a fuck when he enters the ring and then he just tears into opponents once in the ring. I am very much pro-Hook, but I wish he could channel more of Fujita Jr Hayato. Might have to go down a Hayato cagematch rabbit hole between now and the voting.

Satoshi Kojima vs Taiyo Kea - AJPW 4/13/02 There a couple instances of young lions coming up together and rising to the main event, but I think more often than not it usually hurts one. I think a young lion overcoming a veteran main eventer is the better route to getting someone over. Anyways this is the semi-main of the second 2002 Budokan show. With Kawada injured, the logical main event was to go back to Tenryu vs Mutoh for the vacant Triple Crown. This leaves an opening for the two brightest stars of the next generation to have the semi-main event slot. Unfortunately, if this is All Japan best and brightest of the next generation, Mrs. Baba & Mutoh should be worried. I am about as fond of Kojima as I have ever been and watching a shit ton of Kea I think he is serviceable. They are fine as upper midcarders but they arent main eventers that can draw sellout Budokans. Mrs. Baba, Mutoh, Tenryu or Kawada needed to sit down with these and say yes your execution is great, but youre missing those intangibles that takes someone from a solid pro wrestler to main event. Unfortunately either that talk didnt happen or it fell on deaf ears. I think this is a very good match, but very good wont cut it when Tenryu, Mutoh and Kawada eventually run out of gas that ends up happening in 2005. These two have no problem hitting their high spots, everything looks good, but this was missing that je ne sais quoi that you can feel from a burgeoning main eventer. New Japan style chain wrestling to start. Kea lands the first highspot with a jumping DDT on a leapfrog, which was nice. Kojima powders, but he is able to take cover by whipping Kea into the railing. Kojima has a solid control segment nothing crazy. I was disappointed by Kea's transition. He basically mashes "Square" on his PS2 controller as if he is playing Here Comes The Pain to take over. He runs through a couple of his highspots such as a Vaderbomb. With both being Mutoh disciples, Kojima hits a Dragon Leg Screw. I would be remiss to mention that Cagematch rates this match as Kea's best match of all time. I think the famous tags he is in smokes this and his best singles matches are against Tenryu. I thought the leg psychology might lead to why this match got a high rating, but doesnt really go anywhere. Kojima hits his crowd participation elbow drop. Kea hits a couple kicks again a weak transition. Kea hits a sick splash from like 3/4ths across the ring. The finish run starts about here. Kea goes for his TKO. Kojima counters and he hits an Ace Crusher. Kojima starts to ramp up his offense with a Michinoku Driver. We go full 90s All Japan, which is an interesting contrast to Tenryu/Mutoh/Kawada who have really shifted away from that style. Kea responds with a Shining Wizard then a Frankensteiner for 2. Kea needs something big. He applies a Cobra Clutch and as Kojima is struggling through it. HE DROPS HIM ON HIS HEAD! It has been a while since I seen a head drop suplex, which popped me. Kojima in true All Japan fashion responds with a Lariat. Except Kea is up first and he hits a TKO for 2. Kea is done for. Kojima hits a Lariat! Kea tries a Frankensteiner. POWERBOMB! Love it! KOJIMA LARIAT FTW! Finish stretch had some fun fireworks, but this is far from the matches Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi were having in the early 90s where they showed they were ready for the main event. *** 1/2

Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs Satoshi Kojima & Taiyo Kea - AJPW 10/12/02 The a very fitting match as Tenryu takes on two of his biggest up and coming rivals of 2001 and 2002. The idea of the rising lions team of Kojima & Kea is a good one and they would go on to win the Real World Tag League in December over the Zero-One team of Masato Tanaka & Shinjiro Ohtani. Unfortunately for Kea, he gets injured which derails his push. At this point, Tenryu is still Triple Crown Champion and had a successful defense against Kojima in July and in a stone cold classic. I believe the title Kojima has with him is the original MLW title. This match just missed the cut to be nominated for the Best of Japan 2000s voting as it finished in T-#33 in the voting for the best matches of Japan in 2002. One thing that I found interesting was that Kojima was the one to always take heat and it was Kea who came in and cleaned up his messes. I thought by this point where Kojima gets two high profile matches against Tenryu this year while Kea's major matches are more focused in the tag ranks, I though Kojima had surpassed on the totem, but that does not seem to be the case. This match thrives on Tenryu's grumpy, lumpy old bastard charisma, because otherwise this is a pretty routine match. I loved Tenryu's reaction to the first stiff shot by Kea was to bail and grab the ring bell. I have seen a couple Araya matches and he has had great matches with Tenryu in WAR in 1998 and in All Japan 2001 in a tag against Kawada. Here besides a few moments, he just comes across as another stiff Japanese wrestler. Kojima and Kea work a solid, but forgettable heat segment on Araya. I loved the transition. Kojima runs the ropes too close to Tenryu and he nails him with an enziguiri, but Kojima does not sell it like a KO blow, but rather he is pissed off and he attacks Tenryu. That's how that spot should be treated as a way for the heel to goad the babyface into being distracted. This allows Araya to attack from behind and whip Kojima into the railings while Tenryu rips the cover off the turnbuckle pad. Unlike in American wrestling, Tenryu wastes no time in using this newfound advantage bashing Kojima's head into the turnbuckle. Tenryu & Araya work a spirited heat segment on Kojima. Great punches. Araya hits a powerbomb which is the punctuation mark on this control segment, but does not feel like an exclamation point. Because we are in Mutoh's All Japan, a Dragon Leg Screw is enough for Kojima to tag out to Kea. I wish it was a bit more elaborate transition. Kea runs through his standard high spots, but he eats knees on the Vader Bomb thus starts the finish stretch. Tenryu comes in a house of fire beating Kea pillar to post like only he can. Kea hits his classic kick combination with his characteristically great back kick to the standing Tenryu's head (think Swerve's House Call but to a standing opponent). Kojima comes in and he does his best to kick ass, but honestly not his best effort. Tenryu blocks Kojima's lariat but Kojima blocks Tenryu's brainbuster. Tenryu blocks Ace Crusher. TENRYU CLOBBERS KOJIMA WITH A LARIAT! That was a great. Tenryu Brainbuster! Kea breaks it up and Tenryu tagged out. Araya SMOKES Kojima with a lariat! Araya brainbuster. Two Lariat/Brainbuster combos love it. Tenryu grabs the announce table and HURLS it at Kea! I LOVE IT! Tenryu rules! Araya sets up the table and just like America he who sets it, gets it. Kojima whips Araya into it. Araya is still up first and hits a moonsault! Kojima catches the Araya lariat with an Ace Crusher. Tag out to Kea. Kea tees off on Araya. Kojima gets the honor of taking out Tenryu with a lariat and really TRUCKS Araya. TKO for the win! Big win for the young lions who never picked up a singles win over the Old Man, but they get a win here through team work. Even though Kea got the hot tag in both instances, Kojima still played a big role in the finish with Ace Crusher on Araya and the Lariat that takes out Tenryu. Tenryu is who elevates this to very good though with his grumpy, lumpy charisma. The other three are technically great, but could use some more charisma. *** 1/2

Genichiro Tenryu vs Taiyo Kea - AJPW 10/27/01 Mrs. Baba is out for the third match in this trilogy. Tenryu defeated Kea twice this year in a Triple Crown defense and a Champions Carnival match. This is on the undercard of the Anniversary Show Budokan match which Mutoh/Chono headlined. Kea also lost tag belts with Johnny Smith to Tenryu & Anjoh. BUT Kea upgraded his partner to Keiji Mutoh and on their second try defeated Tenryu & Anjoh for the tag belts 5 days prior so Kea has a little momentum going into this match. Also interesting is that Tenryu is still billed as representing WAR and with Mutoh still representing New Japan, 2/3rds of All Japan’s main eventers are not All Japan. Just like the other Tenryu/Kea 2001 matches this is clipped but this one is only missing the first 3 minutes of an 11 minute match. These two have great chemistry together and I thought this was another great match. I still prefer Kojima and Tenzan to Kea but it is not due to technical proficiency but rather a lack of charisma. We JIP to Tenryu’s trick knee acting up causing him to ballshot Kea! Helluva way to start the match! Tenryu lays a pretty good beat down on Kea with a Brainbuster and a great whip into the railing. I like how the announcers stop him from using their table. The usual combination of meaty punches and lariats from Tenryu. Transition to Kea is he gets his feet up on a charging Tenryu and then a top rope dropkick. Strike exchanges between Tenryu and Kea are sick! This is how you do it folks! The punches by both are absolutely sick. We all know Tenryu throws a great potato but I was really impressed by Kea’s. Kea finally throws some of his characteristically great kicks. That back heel kick to the head of a standing Tenryu is sick! He has Tenryu reeling. Tenryu tries to get a water bottle to throw like a grenade but Kea blasts him with a kick and then Kea beats up the Young Boy who gave it to Tenryu! Fuck Yeah! This is the shit that elevates a match. Kea tees off on Tenryu with three perfectly placed kicks to the head. How this match has differed from the last two is there no Mutoh-style knee-based offense. It is all head rocking strikes. He goes up top which fucked him over at the Champions Carnival and that happens here as well but in epic fashion. TENRYU RED MIST~! On the Flying Kea! NORTHERN LIGHTS BOMB! Fuck yeah! Id love to see the first three minutes because this rocked. Like I said different than the first two. There is a lot more urgency here. Tenryu knows Kea is getting close and really tries to pour it on. Kea abandons the Mutoh’s approach and just goes for caving Tenryu’s head in. Kea looked like he was on the brink of victory before Tenryu pulled out a crazy trick from his playbook. Loved this! ****

Genichiro Tenryu vs Taiyo Kea - AJPW 4/11/01 Champions Carnival Finals First Champions Carnival since the split. Tenryu has been the Triple Crown Champion since October 2001, but came up short in the RWTL in December. He successfully defended his Triple Crown against Kea in March. So this a pretty high profile rematch. Kea is currently Tag Team Champion with Johnny Smith. Mutoh and Kojima are NOT yet All Japan 4 Life so Kea is getting pushed pretty hard as the rising star to complement Tenryu and Kawada. I think Kojima's official signing and Kea's injury ultimately derail his push. Like the Triple Crown match, this match is also clipped. We get about the last 7-8 minutes of a 17 minute match so I will not rate this match. I will say I really enjoyed their 2002 Budokan main event match and I do think they have good chemistry. This is Tenryu's wheelhouse grumpy old vet takes on rising young lion. I really enjoyed Kea's offense here. We JIP to them in a stand up exchange and Kea hits a big enziguiri that really rocks Tenryu's. The best part of Kea's offense is his kicks. Tenryu's really sells it like he has had his bell rung. Kea piledrives him. So I am immediately loving this. Like how is the old grumpy bastard going to respond. Interestingly, Kea's switches to a more Mutoh-based offensive strategy dropkicking the knee and locking on a Figure-4. I LOVED Tenryu's response to a second figure-4 attempt by PUNCHING HIM RIGHT IN THE FACE! HE CLOCKED HIM! Kea looks staggered but he goes head-hunting too with a sick kick to the back of the head. I am digging it. Kea misses a top rope splash. This leaves him open to couple lariats. Tenryu PULVERIZES him with a stiff punch and Northern Lights Bomb which should have been the finish, but a third and final lariat finishes him off. I thought Tenryu's comeback was a bit too quick and unearned. Kea had really strung together an impressive offensive combination so I would have liked more out of Tenryu to dig himself out of that hole. That punch-Northern Lights Bomb combo was pretty sick. I'd like to see the whole version of this. I thought this was better than the March 2001 Triple Crown match based on what we saw of each.

Keiji Mutoh vs Mike Barton - AJPW 4/10/02 Champions Carnival Final MUTHAFUCKA~! Pro Wrestling Love Pose! SHINING WIZARD! God Bless Mutoh! Mutoh took two big L’s to start the year he dropped the Triple Crown titles to Kawada in February at the Budokan and lost to Tenryu on 4/1 in the Carnival. Thankfully for him Mike Barton of all people beat Tenryu in the Semis while Mutoh beat Kojima in the other semis. This match is a bit odd. It has the pacing of a 20-30 minute match but it is sub-10mins but somehow it all works. They do a New Japan chain sequence to start nothing to write home about. Mutoh dropkicks the knee. Dragon Leg Screw. Figure-4. You know the drill. 2001 Mutoh cruise control. SHINING WIZARD BUT WAIT BARTON BLOCKS! What really makes this match work is how much Barton commits to the sell and how much much Mutoh also commits to sell. It feels like we are at 15-20 minute mark instead of the 5 minute mark. The rest of the match really becomes can Mutoh hit the Shining Wizard. Barton has two high spots one is a top rope elbow drop. I love when he struggles to get up and his one knee you can see how excited Mutoh gets but BLOCKED~! Again. Great selling by both Barton knee gives out on a suplex and I audibly said to myself “is this match good?”. Ace Crusher by Barton his only other high spot no left hand today. Mutoh goes back to the knee. Shining Wizard followed by a MUTHAFUCKA Pro Wrestling Love Shining Wizard! 1-2-No! Backbreaker -> Moonsault. Mutoh after taking a couple big losses wins the Carnival bur will lose to Tenryu at the Budokan to crown a new Triple Crown Champion because of Kawada’s injury. Rocky start to Mutoh’s 2002. Selling wins the day and the Muthafucka popped me enough. Good craic *** 1/4

Keiji Mutoh & Taiyo Kea vs Toshiaki Kawada & Mitsuya Nagai - AJPW 12/7/01 RWTL Finals THIS FUCKING RULED! Keiji Mutoh super push is still going full bore. He main evented every All Japan Budokan show in 2001. He has been the Triple Crown Champion since June and won the Tag Team Titles with Kea in October from Tenryu & Anjoh. Now here he is in Real World Tag League Final with Kea in the last Budokan main event of the year. I definitely think Mutoh earned the push both in terms of box office and quality matches as his 2001 is one of the best calendar years any wrestler has ever produced. It was not just his reinvention but Post-Split All Japan was the perfect platform for the reinvention. Inoki really started pushing the shooters hard in April of 2001 with Fujita winning IWGP title and NOAH was just a continuation of 90s All Japan. Mutoh did not fit any scene. In the 90s he always played second fiddle to Hashimoto. Post-Split All Japan have him the perfect place to finally play a leading role and with main event level opponents in Kawada and Tenryu he knocked it out of the park. It was a perfect symbiotic relationship. All Japan needed him just as bad as he needed them. Due to some urgent needs at work, was not able to immediately review this match after watching it so going back and watching for a second time because this match is so badass and I want to make sure I capture every badass detail. Mutoh sure loved going to the Early Shining Wizard well a lot in 2001, but man outside that Chono match, it works so well. Kawada drills him with a Back Drop Driver. SHINING WIZARD~! BANG~! Mutoh is head rocked so he tags in Kea. Kea does not do anything super crazy, but he throws a nice kick. Nagai bails Kawada out enough that Kawada hits his famous kick and then a GREAT LEG SWEEP~! Kea is good at one thing and thats throwing round kicks so him and Nagai are peanut butter jelly throwing kicks. Nagai BURIES a knee in the breadbasket and Nagai is on fire. Mutoh tries to help out but eats a knee of his own. Nagai has Kea reeling with all the kicks. Kea hits a dropkick to stymie Nagai long enough to tag out which is wise. Mutoh immediately dropkicks the knee. The Boo Birds are out for that. I LOVE how Nagai tries to fight through the ONSLAUGHT of Dropkicks to the Knee but eventually succumbs to a series of Dragon Leg Screws. He successfully wards off a Figure-4 with kicks to the head. I love how Nagai was fighting for his life. Each dropkick, Dragon Leg Screw he made it seem so important that he keep fighting and culminated in great struggle over the Figure-4. Like Kea, he wisely tagged out to Kawada. Kawada and Mutoh have this badass exchange. That just feels like two Aces vying for supremacy. Classic Kawada Kicks. Mutoh throws a potato. Mutoh Kappou Kick! Back Handspring Elbow. Bulldog. SHINING WIZARD BLOCK~! KAWADA LARIAT! Every move in this match feels existential. Mutoh BLOCKS Enziguiri. DROPKICK TO THE KNEE! BOOS! Kawada gets the enziguiri on the Dragon Leg Screw attempt. NAGAI KICKS THE HAMMIES AND DRAGON LEG SCREWS MUTOH! I LOVE WHEN OPPONENTS THROW MUTOH'S OFFENSE BACK AT HIM! This match is MARK OUT CITY! These are great Dragon Leg Screws! MUTOH DRAGON LEG SCREWS NAGAI! He gets the Figure-4 with Kea playing guard dog. Drama off the charts! Mutoh dropkicks the knee of the fallen Nagai after the rope break to big boos. Kea has some impressive high spots like the Vaderbomb and Superfly Splash. He is just missing that IT factor. He is a fine wrestler, but he just doesnt have IT. It does not drag this particular match down, but he is clearly #4 in there. Springboard dropkick by Mutoh! Backbreaker -> Moonsault! 1-2-Kawada Saves! Kawada High Kick! Mutoh is OUT~! Kawada Kneedrop. Top Rope Nagai Flying Knee! 1-2-NO! Kawada Yakuza Kick! Mutoh BLASTS Nagai with an Elbow...Dragon Leg Screw on Kawada. Dont be bringing that in my house! Kea dropkicks Nagai's knees to boos. This is the most heel heat I have heard from a Japanese crowd. TKO but Kawada saves. Nagai desperation German on Nagai. Kawada is in the wrong fucking corner because this match is so chaotic I love it. Kawada is reaching out for the tag and Nagai is desperate for it. BANG~! SHINING WIZARD~! GOD BLESS THESE FOUR! Kea German 1-2-NO! Kawada saves on the TKO attempt. Here comes the best part of the match. Mutoh and Kea like a pack of hyenas just nonstop dropkick Kawada's knees. It is so fucking awesome! Kawada's selling is so fucking good! Crowd booing so heavily! Mutoh doing his Pro Wrestling Love pose to boos is incredible! DOUBLE SHINING WIZARD~! THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE FINISH! I would have gone 5 if it was GODDAMN! TKO! 1-2-3! THIS MATCH FUCKING RULES! I watched this twice! Totally holds up! This is fucking awesome! **** 3/4

Toshiaki Kawada vs Mitsuya Nagai - All Japan 3/3/01 Took me a second to turn on my shoot style Brain but then I got it. I am not sure I have seen Nagai before. Kawada would trade in Fuchi for Nagai for the rest of the year and he and Fuchi fell short of winning All Japan Tag Championship to Johnny Smith & Taino Kea I believe. The key to unlocking this match is they are doing a faux-shoot-style match which is why they keep going to stand & bang exchange which at first I found peculiar as I felt the match lacked progression. The best Shoot Style matches tend to mix stand & bang with takedowns and submissions so I do think this overly reliant on one mode of shoot style. The other thing I thought was weird was Kawada was LIGHTING NAGAI UP! It was signature Kawada stiffness. Nagai was just pushing on those elbows. Maybe he throws a shitty elbow but after two or three of those stiff Kawada elbows you’d think he would be ok muthafucka I see how it is and start sending receipts but I thought Kawada was clearly out hitting him. Maybe that was the story. Kawada is the Ace and Nagai is just an undercard guy and what makes Kawada better is that he hits harder but still it made for a weird dynamic. It didn’t help that on Nagai’s big shine to establish himself as a threat he whiffed on his big kicks to Kawada’s head and Kawada still did his ass dump sell. After that, the result was never in doubt. Kawada just bulldozed his way through the match. Destroying Nagai with a steady barrage of elbows and kicks. We get the Stretch Plum I like how he had to earn the application. Nagai got one hope spot a cross armbreaker that Kawada sold well but a pet peeve of mine is that a wrestler stops selling in the ropes. The hold is still on you need to sell until the hold is released. The stand and bang exchanges were fun but more in a watch Kawada beat the shit out of this Rando than any sort of emotional investment or character work. Kawada softens the legs up with some devastating kicks and three single leg crabs polish off Nagai. Kawada clearly liked what he saw as he adopted Nagai as his tag partner. *** 1/4

Varsity Club 2000 (Dr. Death & Mike Rotundo) vs Toshiaki Kawada & Masanobu Fuchi - AJPW 12/9/00 First Real World Tag League Final Post-Split in the Budokan. Tenryu teamed up with Araya but with Tenryu winning the Triple Crown, I think it was smart to push the gaijin team to the finals as a way to keep the card balanced in the future even though this turns out to be the swan song of the gaijin in All Japan. As these two plus Barton, Steele and Hines never make to the top of the card again beside Doc’s last Triple Crown challenge in July. I enjoyed this match for its interesting structure. I don’t think it is a great match but it is still compelling & engaging throughout. Kawada and Fuchi only tag once which is an interesting wrinkle and something you don’t see enough of. Kawada has a very long shine and even though he isn’t beat Tenryu for the Triple Crown in October, he feels like the Ace. He guzzles Doc & Rotundo. He manhandles them at will. He opens with single leg takedown of the Sooner and never lets up. He lights Doc up with kicks and elbows. He outshines him on the mat. There’s a great part the second time Doc is in the match where Kawada and Rotundo have a wicked elbow exchange and then Kawada BLASTS Rotundo off the apron and then Doc. You got the feeling Kawada would not be denied. It was interesting that Doc and Rotundo were throwing a lot of different looks at Kawada and he is fighting through it all and bulldozing them. Doc lunges and bowls him over on the outside but Kawada is like fuck you and kicks his head off. What stops this match from being great is weak transitions. The transition to heat on Kawada is a vertical suplex by Doc. The way Kawada bounced was sick but still. I thought there was a straight right by Doc that would served way better to be the transition but Kawada fought through that instead. I liked Doc & Rotundo hanging up on him including the Doc-assisted Abdominal Stretch. But against Kawada’s just kinda shrugs it off starts unleashing kicks of fury. Again transition could’ve been more interesting than it is time to move onto Fuchi. Fuchi as expected has a good start. Some double team big boots, back drop driver. Face lock and Stretch Plum At the same time. This time transition is a Rotundo lariat and it is not even a very good one lol. But he succumbs to Americans’ power offense. Oklahoma Stampede always a crowd pleaser. I loved the fire fight with Varisty Club and Kawada looks like Kawada was going to overwhelm them and then in a blink you miss it moment Doc connects with a right hand that ROCKS Kawada allows him to hit Back Drop Driver so now Fuchi is really fucked. Hart Attack. Top Rope Powerslam. Americans pouring it on. Kawada tries to save. Varsity Club Spike Piledriver on the floor to Kawada! DoctorBomb! Another top rope powerslam. Baseball slide by Kawada to save. Rotundo Samoan Drop and a Doc Back Drop Driver give Varsity Club the upset victory! Even though I read a millions Varsity Club won RWTL I totally forgot and was shocked by the finish. Weak transitions keep this from great but I thought everyone played their part well. Kawada was the Ace asskicker but ultimately had to tag out to Fuchi who got overwhelmed. I wish transition to that was better. Doc power offense looked good. I was shocked how good Rotundo looked in multiple strike exchanges with Kawada. He looked very motivated maybe with WCW going under he knew this was his last shot. Enjoyed Kawada’s shine and the Varsity Club finish run just needed a better middle. *** 3/4

Genichiro Tenryu vs Stan Hansen - AJPW 10/21/00 Stan’s penultimate match and last singles match comes in the Semifinals of the Truple Crown Tournament. Kawada will have beaten Koshinaka, interesting choice for a semifinalist the next night. Hansen’s last match would be at the Budokan later this month in a 6-man. This has the feeling of one last shootout in the OK Corral putting two old gunslingers. I love the start of the match with Tenryu diving onto Stan Hansen as he is making his entrance with reckless abandon it is totally unexpected and popped me huge. I had to rewind for that. It was so nice he had to do it twice. Hansen mounts a comeback with the bull rope yanking Tenryu into hard metal objects at ringside. From there it is just gritty, no frills old man fight. The visual of Stan nosed busted throwing hands like his life depended on it was awesome. It felt like Man vs Self. His mind wanted to destroyed Tenryu but his body wouldn’t let him. His body just was not cooperating. Tenryu was just brutalizing him with every chop, punch and kick, lots of enziguiris to the kidneys. Hansen bowls him over with one last bum rush. He targets the arm and yanks him outside but Tenryu comes back with that kick to the kidneys. The Tenryu straight rights as Hansen is laying in the Ring and Tenryu is standing on the floor are BRUTAL! Tenryu dives on top of him with a reverse elbow from the top rope but it more like he is crushing with all his body weight. This is classic old man wrestling. It about weight and inertia using the hard parts of the body. Ugly but effective. Tenryu misses the second. LARIAT~! THE COLLISION IS SO EXPLOSIVE THE REF IS BLOWN AWAY WITHOUT PHYSICAL CONTACT! LOL! This protects Hansen one last time. Tenryu sends Hansen to ride off into the sunset with one last Top Rope Reverse Elbow. God Bless Them! One last shootout at the OK Corral and it doesn’t disappoint! *** 3/4

Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs Toshiaki Kawada & Steve Williams - AJPW 9/2/00 The forgotten Budokan main event of the Post-Split 2000 run. It surprised me that replacing Mossman/Kea with Dr. Death would produce a less heralded match, but I agree with the consensus that the first Budokan Main Event Post-Split is significantly better than this. At first, I thought it might have been the electricity of the Prodigal Son, Tenryu, returning home but it is not just that, the work is better in July. They also do a switcheroo here. They split up the natives and gaijins on this go around, I assume to give everyone a preview of the October Budokan Main Event of Tenryu vs Kawada. They go for an 80s vs 90s feel here with the old timers (Tenryu & Hansen) taking on the not exactly young bucks in Kawada & Doc. I feel like this is a throwback to the 80s All Japan style tags and I can see Meltzer or anyone who prizes action liking this. Those that value character work or narrative might find something to be desired. I still thought this was very good, but falls short of being great. Unlike 90s All Japan this is far from the fireworks shows that those guys would put on. The first 10 minutes, Kawada/Tenryu is the highlight. They light each other up. Kawada spinning heel kicks looks particularly vicious and loved Tenryu's lariat follow-up. Hansen has noticeably lost a step. He is more of a brick wall than a bull in a china shop, but he makes it work. Some structure comes in when Kawada is able to work Tenryu over on the outside to set up the Doc control segment on Tenryu. I will say you dont associate great punching with Japanese wrestling but we get some great potatoes here. Doc unloads on Tenryu. Hansen breaks up a submission attempt with a great punch to Doc. Tenryu's HAULS OFF AND CLOCKS DOC! Some real good stuff. Always loved the Oklahoma Stampede. Kawada gets his fair share of offense in. Nice Axe Kick. It is very action-heavy not very sticky so I am just remembering highspots as they come to me like the suplex battle on the apron that leads to Kawada getting suplexed from the ring to the outside which always looks gnarly, a Tenryu powerbomb. My favorite sequence is the Doctor Bomb on Tenryu and Doc cheerleading Kawada to put him away with the Powerbomb but only gets two. We get a couple Stretch Plums as is normal. The finish sequence as I remember it is Doc comes in and splashes Tenryu a bunch. Goes for the Backdrop Driver but Hansen breaks it up. Doc gets the Spinebuster. I remember Sumo Slaps by Tenryu! Kawada gets bulldozed by the double shoulderblock by the old timers. LARIAT~! by Hansen on Kawada eliminates him. Tenryu/Hansen work over Doc. Top Rope Reverse Elbow. Powerbomb. LARIAT~! Hansen falls on top for the win. Given that Hansen's last match would be the next Budokan show in October, I am a bit surprised he went over here. All the talk about Post-Split All Japan is about how Kawada remained, they bring in Tenryu and then Mutoh, but it is interesting how Doc is overlooked. He wins the RWTL in December, he gets a prime spot at Dome show against the new #2 gaijin Mike Barton, which maybe shows how far the gaijin talent has fallen. He does get his last Triple Crown title shot at the Budokan in July then just falls off. I guess Mutoh bringing his New Japan crew sort of rendered Doc obsolete. Anyways, at 25 minutes I enjoyed but I dont think it is something I will remember next week. *** 1/2

Toshiaki Kawada vs Masa Fuchi - AJPW 7/1/00 The first main event of the post-Split All Japan Era features the only two native talent left after the split. Thankfully, Tenryu comes in for the first Budokan main event and immediately rejuvenates what otherwise would have been a promotion on death’s door. I was surprised by the effusive praise the match received which I think was good but not great. I understand that the match was wrestled in direct contrast to the style promoted by Misawa and Kobashi who would carry that style into NOAH. This was very minimalist. The first throw was not until 17-ish minutes in of a 22ish minute match. I enjoyed the execution of the work but it was a very lopsided match. I am not saying it should have been worked 50/50 but I wish Fuchi posed more of a puzzle for Kawada to solve. I thought there was a real missed opportunity when Fuchi dropkicked the knee on the caught kick. That got an Ooooo and Aaahhh out of me and then he stepped on Kawada’s head. It was that old man prick energy that would have made this match much more interesting if we saw it throughout. I don’t see what Fuchi contributed here. You could put countless other wrestlers in the same role and get equal results. Yes Kawada’s offense looked great. He was pelting him with chops and kicks. He was using strikes to set up submissions so I liked the strategy. He is not a ring general like Flair, Hart or Misawa where he can just plug & play. He is terrific Offensive wrestler and obviously he can be a great seller but if not pushes he just gobble you up and that’s what happened here. The biggest strike is lack of ingenuity of getting to Fuchi’s big rally and throwing his three back drop drivers. He just hulks up and slaps Kawada around. Not buying it. Felt shoehorned. Kawada’s finish stretch with the Kappou Kick, Stretch Plums and Powerbomb was great. Yes it is an enjoyable extended squash which could have been shorter BUT given how thin the roster was I get why they went long and doesn’t drag. Fuchi just didn’t really bring anything unique to the tank so I see this as good not great. *** 1/4

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs Arashi - AJPW 4/12/03 We only have 6 minutes of a 17 minute match so I won’t rate this but it is the only Triple Crown title defense between the split and Kawada’s monster reign that I have not watched so I wanted to watch what I could find. All Japan does some pretty monster business here with a sell out at the Budokan with this on top but I have to assume it is Kawada’s return tag bout against Mutoh that drew the house, Tenryu is also on the undercard. Arashi was getting push during this AJPW vs Z-1 feud. I don’t think I have ever seen an Arashi match he looks like a lumpy WAR dude to me. We get the last 6 minutes. Arashi is absorbing some kicks. He goes on his big finish tear which is pretty good. Belly 2 Belly. Powerbomb. Top Rope Splash! I dug it! He charges at Hashimoto who DDTs him and polishes him off with an inverted Triangle choke. It was a good finish stretch I’d watch the whole thing if we have it. They teased Kojima and Kawada as the invading Hashimoto’s next challengers.