Superstar Sleeze

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.

Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - AJPW 10/14/2002 Just when you think you have seen every Tenryu/Mutoh match from the 2000s another pops up. I wonder what the promotional strategy was here. They run the Budokan two weeks later with these two headlining in a Triple Crown Title Defense, but with Mutoh as The Great Muta. This match here is non-title. I assume the booking here is that Mutoh is 0-3 versus Tenryu coming out of this match in 2002. Thus he needs to call upon The Great Muta in order to win the Triple Crown at Budokan in two weeks. That makes sense, but had they not yet announced the main event for their biggest show of the year? Did they announce it as Tenryu/Mutoh and then make the switch to Muta, but why have a non-title match two weeks out? Was it always Tenryu vs Muta and this is just to reinforce the story that Mutoh cant beat Tenryu as Mutoh and he needs to become The Great Muta. Anyways, booking be damned, this is a very good match which is to be expected as they two have very good chemistry with each other. These two usually opt for a hot start, but they stick to a standard New Japan style opening wrestling. Mutoh is targeting the leg but more with leg laces than anything else. Tenryu tries to get something going with potatoes but ends up eating a bunch of dropkicks to the knee. I love his retaliatory fuck you dropkicks to Mutoh's knee but that doesnt last long. We get the Dragon Leg Screws and two Figure-4s. Pretty good standard 21st Century Mutoh front half. I thought the back half they picked it up with the fireworks, but didnt reach 4/1/02 levels. Tenryu goes to the eyes as he is sick of the knee attacks. Love the 'ol lumpy bastard. Here come the chops and potatoes. Superplex and the Spider German at his age, fuckkkkkk. Misses the Reverse Elbow. Mutoh goes for the Moonsault too soon after and eats not one but two Powerbombs. Tenryu is signals to the crowd he is going to polish him off with a Brainbuster but a well-placed knee to the head leads to SHINING WIZARD~! then the Mutoh Moonsault. I am digging this finish run. We get the blocked Shining Wizard. Two Tenryu Brainbusters and now a Shining Wizard to level the playing field. BICYCLE KICK BY MUTOH! Crash & Burn on the Moonsault. Tenryu hits the Giant Baba Lariat, Jumbo Tsuruta Back Drop Driver and Tenryu Brainbuster to win. I recognized the Giant Baba Lariat but kudos to the announcer for making the call on Back Drop Driver being a tribute to Jumbo. This was a very good non-title match that felt like a title match. 6/8/01 and WAR match are in my Top 100, I think 4/1/02 is worth seeing. I dont think you need to go out of your way to see it, but it is enjoyable way to spend 17 minutes and it sets up why Mutoh had to become Great Muta to win the Triple Crown. *** 3/4

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 Keiji Mutoh - NJPW DOME QUAKE 7/20/01 DOME QUAKE~! What a great name For a show. This is at the Sapporo Dome. Mutoh made his return to New Japan at 1/4 Tokyo Dome show. He has formed a counter group called BATT and the 2001 Mutoh resurgence is well underway with classics against Kawada and Tenryu already under his belt. He is the Triple Crown champion but this is non-title. Chono & Team 2000 was pushed pretty hard the year prior but with Fujita’s super push, who is defending against BATT’s Don Frye on this card, Chono & Team 2000 have been in tags against BATT the last couple major shows. Mutoh lost both his matches to Chono last year, can he win this one as Triple Crown champion. I thought this was every bit as good as the 1/4/00 and surprised it doesn’t get a little more ply but I can understand Chono/Mutoh fatigue. This is the type of match that is critical for Mutoh’s 2001 campaign to be considered an all-timer. We know he has the classics but does he have the great matches to flesh out the resume. Mutoh comes out of the gates hot with dropkicks to the knee. I love the high energy start. Chono tries withstand the onslaught throwing some kicks. Mutoh’s even goes for Chono’s patented STF to show Mutoh has come to play. Chono wisely slows down the match with a standing double wrist lock but Mutoh keeps coming now with dropkicks to the chest. They struggle over a suplex on the apron and I love how Mutoh just dumps him chest first on the top rope. This begins abdomen work. Shoulder tackles in the corner. Abdominal stretches. All the cutoffs are abdomen focused. I loved these type of matches they are taking what the match gives them and using it rather than shoehorning their spots in there. Chono gets a reverse atomic drop and they play King of the Mountain with Chono kicking Mutoh off the spring with a series of Yakuza Kicks. CHONO SUICIDA~! Didnt see that coming. That was wild! Mutoh goes for a Frankensteiner…POWERBOMB~! Absolutely sick Powerbomb. Now Chono goes for the Butterfly Lock / Iron Cross. Again taking what the match gives you. Mutoh goes for more Dragon Leg Screws and Chono is battling back with the Butterfly Lock. Mutoh’s Dragon Leg Screw off the top with Figure-4 gives him the definitive advantage. BICYCLE KICK! SHINING WIZARD! Team 2000 distraction. He WHIFFS on the Second Shining Wizard. STF WITH CHOKE WINS FOR CHONO! Really enjoyed this from bell to bell…hot start…abdomen psychology…great Chono control segment…hot finish run what is not to love? 2001 Mutoh Rules! Finally onto the Triple Crown Defense! ****

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

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Vader - NOAH 12/23/00 I am shocked I have never seen this before. Two of my favorites trading bombs right up my alley. This was at the tail end of Vader’s main event run, he gets one crack at Akiyama’s GHC Title next year and that’s it. I really enjoy these two at the Dome show in May 1999. This is a fun bout. It is a total heavyweight spot fest but it is all high spots I like it. They immediately stand & bang. Vader is popping Misawa with elbows but Misawa is hitting through. So Vader THROWS Misawa with a GNARLY Misawa. Knowing what happens to Misawa that was dark. Vader Body Attacks and Splashes. Absolutely sick release Powerbomb he sends him flying. Vader misses a charge. Here comes the Elbows. As is customary, Vader lets himself get thrown. Elbow Suicida! They want to add a little psychology to this match where Misawa attacks the arm using a pair of cross armbreakers but Misawa is NOT Takada. The takedowns and applications look weak and weird and it is just bad. Vader THROWS his ass down with a Tejana Bomb and a Chokeslam. God Bless Vader. Vaderbomb BUT the bad Arm. VADERSAULT FROM THE SECOND ROPE! Which arguably seems harder than the top rope. You have way less time to make the rotation. He really had to snap it off. Misawa gets up hits a bunch of elbows. Blow away Elbow seals the deal. It is super fun. Vader’s offense looked great. Misawa kind of phoned this one in. The Elbows were sick but that’s all he felt like doing. I still really enjoyed it. *** 3/4

Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - AJPW 4/1/02 Just when you think you’ve seen all the Tenryu/Mutoh another one pops up on your radar. I thought this was a killer match not quite as good as the Classic 6/8/01 encounter or the WAR brawl but still an awesome match much better than their AJPW Triple Crown Match just 12 days later. The 6/8/01 starts off with a bang with the Shining Wizard that puts Tenryu in a deep hole. Here they lock up and Mutoh trips Tenryu on a rope break. Tenryu doesn’t take well to this slight and just starts lighting Mutoh up. Tenryu overcommits and leaves himself vulnerable to the counterattack. Dropkick to the Knee! BANG~! SHINING WIZARD! They got me hook, line and sinker. Tenryu powders. Mutoh goes for the kill shot a second Shining Wizard BUT WATS THE POST! Holy Shit! I fucking love it! He comes up bleeding so Tenryu pulls the timekeeper table over and blasts Mutoh in the head with it and he is really bleeding now. Tenryu works the cut and drops him on his head with a brainbuster. How have never seen this match before?!? Mutoh tries some dropkicks to the knee. Tenryu clobbers with a clothesline and tries to reassert control with a Cravat. I love a Bloody Mutoh just ripping Dragon Leg Screws and throwing Dropkicks to the knee like his life depends on it. Mutoh eats a Potato. Tenryu tries desperately to end the match. Mutoh turns the clock back to the 90s with a back handspring elbow and Backbreaker. He absolutely blasted him with a Shining Wizard in there as well. Can Mutoh get the Moonsault. Nope Powerbomb! Mutoh roars back with a Kappou Kick. Tenryu looks discombobulated. He blocks a Shining Wizard. Lariat and Brainbuster! Tenryu wins! The major plot points of this match hit so hard and they play off the 6/8/01 match so well. Mutoh is so committed to weakening the knee to set up Shining Wizard and also just rocking the head of Tenryu. Tenryu is the ornery old bastard working the cut, throwing tables and potatoes. Tenryu gets a crucial block and the Brainbuster. Two well-defined characters with key emphatic, consequential turning points that’s great pro wrestling. **** 1/4

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Minoru Suzuki - NJPW 2/29/04 Who knew in 2025, I’d become more of a fan of Tenzan than the mercurial Suzuki. Suzuki had returned to pro wrestling about 8 months prior to this. He & Takayama defeated Tenzan & Nishimura for the tag titles earlier in the month to set this up. Tenzan beat Tenryu about two weeks prior to this to win the vacant IWGP title. Tenzan is a good Suzuki opponent in the sense he is not going to take any shit and he is not going to play Suzuki’s dumb games. You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes like Tenzan wrestling you down by raking your eyes and then applying a tight Anaconda Vice. Both wrestlers are at their best as counter wrestlers. Here we see Tenzan the Clubberer more with Suzuki doing a couple cool things but overall it doesn’t get to the highs I want them to even if there is a lot of piss & vinegar. Most of that piss & vinegar is from Tenzan early. Suzuki makes him powder on some strikes but Tenzan overwhelms him with some clubbering. Some of the best stomps you’ll ever see. The Kappou Kick into the full mount raining down fists was great. Aforementioned eye rake into Anaconda Vice. I even liked Suzuki’s counters like the cool head scissors choke and the Armbar. Tenzan comes up swinging and starts roughhousing the ref and a wild swing connects with the ref. Suzuki puts Tenzan out with a Guillotine, Piledriver and then a choke. Nishimura is tempted through in the towel. I don’t know why we needed a ref bump none of those moves were illegal nor did Suzuki get that much of a visual fall. Suzuki wakes up Tenzan with some slaps. This is where they lose me with the strike exchange which neither man is good at. Tenzan throws some great headbutts into the breadbasket to win this. Tenzan Driver! Missed Top Rope Headbutt. Mongolian Chop, Headbutt and Top Rope Headbutt wins the day. Tenzan is always good for some piss & vinegar. Suzuki kept the stupid shit to a minimum. It is a Lo-fi New Japan match minimalist strike-bases scrap. There were some great stretches, some weird choices like the ref bump and some mediocre stretches but all in all it was entertaining. *** 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 Yoshinari Ogawa vs Takeshi Rikio - NOAH 7/26/02 Imagine how much better RAW would be if Dirty Dom watched nothing but Yoshinari Ogawa tapes and wrestled like Rat Boy weekly. Rat Boy’s title reign is known for his fun fluke victory over Akiyama and his epic title loss to Takayama. In between, he had two title defenses: one against Taue I couldn’t find and one against Rikio. Ogawa is the antithesis of a typical Japanese pro wrestler and this really allowed Rikio to shine in a way that he never really has for me. He established his strength and dominance early. Steamrolling the Champion and manhandling him. I liked how when he grabbed a side headlock and Ogawa tried to back suplex out, Rikio no sold. Ogawa was going to have try other ways to win this match because this young lion came to fight. Ogawa powdered after being clobbered and this is when Rar Boy shone in all his underhanded glory. He tied Up Rikio’s knee in the ropes in a way I have never seen before and absolutely went to town on it. Great leg laces and stomps. Wrapping it around the post and the figure-4 on the post. He had such a scummy sleazy way about him as he was doing it. I loved Rikio whipping him hard into the railing and the thunderous bodyslam on the outside to regain the advantage. This was the highlight of the match. Rikio’s control segment was strong again it was all about steamrolling and manhandling Ogawa. You really got the sense that Rat Boy was in over his head. I liked how when Ogawa went for a Guillotine, Rikio duplexes out or when Ogawa duplexes Rikio he no-sold. This was a great way to stay true to both characters. I liked how the first opening for Ogawa came from Rikio charging hard on a clothesline and eating the buckles. The match let me down on the finish. No interesting wrinkles. Just a barrage of Enziguiris and Dangerous Backdrop Drivers wins the day for the Champion. I thought they were telling such an interesting story of Rat Boy being outgunned by the powerful young lion and his only way to survive and thrive was based on his guile and shamelessness but then it became a routine finish. First 3/4ths were awesome even if the finish was banal. *** 3/4

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. ***

Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs Manabu Nakanishi - NJPW 4/24/05 New Japan Cup Finals This match has two key takeways: 1. It makes 2009 Tanahashi look like a Wrestling God for getting two great matches out of bland ass Nakanishi 2. It makes Tenzan look incredible. Nakanishi is a little more a traditional power wrestler whereas Tenzan is more of a clubberer. There’s a good amount of overlap and Tenzan is so much more engaging and compelling of a wrestler than Nakanishi. Tanahashi just was not the Ring general he would become. Tanahashi formula was not a thing yet. There is not much to say about this boring ass match which was hovering around the three line until the terrible finish. There was the New Japan chain wrestling. Nakanishi worked the headlock well and Tanahashi did a nice strike exchange. Tanahashi slapped Nakanishi which seemed dumb and turned it out to be a bad idea as the bigger more powerful Nakanishi dominated the strike exchange with chops and work outside. He nominally attacked the back. There was a bear hug into a belly to belly. Tanahashi worked in a nice hope sequence the best part of the match hurling his body at Nakanishi with a vicious suicide dice and some dropkicks. Nakanishi gets back over with the power game: Boston Crab, Argentine Backbreaker a couple throws. He does some Shawn Michaels stomps to get the crowd into it but hits a pretty weak lariat. His Torture Rack which I remember was his signature in the 2009 series was also lame. Chono was on the outside telling him to wrench it in but he kinda just said Tanahashi on his shoulders. He gently let Tanahashi down so he could his finish sequence a couple duplexes and Tanahashi wins on one Sling Blade with Nakanishi kicking out at three to keep his heat as his heel crew members plead his case. Everything after Torture Rack left a bad taste in my mouth. Before Torture Rack it was inoffensive and boring but that was just bad. Tanahashi was capable of greatness at this stage but needed a great dance partner he was not able to lead and carry a match.

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. ***