Superstar Sleeze

Genichiro Tenryu vs Taiyo Kea - AJPW 7/20/02 Budokan Tenryu is Triple Crown Champion having defended the title three days prior in an epic match against Kojima. Here he takes on All Japan’s other next generation prospect the little talked about Taiyo Kea. I dont know why this is not a title match besides the fact Kea wins and I guess they didn’t want him to be champ but they Never follow it up with a rematch. Weird booking aside this match was really damn good and I had no idea what to expect. I think the only Kea match I watched besides this was first post-split Budokan main event. The first strike against Kea is he doesn’t really look interesting or have a hook. I have never once been damn I really want to check this guy out. There’s the unfortunate hair situation which is out of his control. I thought he was tremendous in this match. Amazing young lion fire that makes me wonder why we don’t talk about Kea. The first obvious reason is post-split All Japan is not exactly a hot commodity so that hurts him a lot and also never really getting that big run like Kojima or SUWAMA got. Kea gives Tenryu a good stiff chop on a rope break. That wakes me and Tenryu up. We both realize Kea has come to play. Tenryu’s reaction is to throw a water bottle at Kea, mine is to get to the edge of my seat. I really enjoyed the strike exchanges in this, crisp & stuff but didn’t feel ritualistic. It was not something they had to do because that’s the house style it felt like they were in a dogfight and battling for control. Tenryu is able to work some hold to consolidate an early advantage. Tenryu goes to powerbomb Kea. You know how it is kinda 50/50 looking whether he is actually going to get the guy up well this is the time he doesn’t. He just fucking drops Kea on his head. Fucking gnarly. The type of shit that would go viral today. Tenryu then drops him on his head with a brainbuster. 1-2-No. Spider German but Kea scrambles up and kicks Tenryu in the leg while he is in the tree of woe! Genius! Kea works the leg and gives Tenryu a stiff kick to the head for good measure. Great leg work in and out of the ring. Tenryu keeps trying to mount a comeback with potatoes, he was tagging him good. Kea was bowing up and giving as good as he got. Loved the finish run! Especially the order of moves. Kea rocks Tenryu with head shot and hits two TKO’s. Tenryu kicks out. Tenryu being the bigger star and champion you think he is going to close out now. Tenryu tucking decimates him. Powerbomb and Brainbuster. The heat on the Brainbuster kick out was wild. Kea comes back with more head shots and a reverse TKO gives Kea probably the biggest singles win of his career. Kea main events the next Budokan show against Mutoh, marquee match with Goldberg and then wins the Real World Tag League with Kojima. Unfortunately it looks like he injured for all of 2003 which definitely stymied his momentum. I am curious to see if this was just one off where Tenryu just brought something out of Kea or if he has a good match against Mutoh. Terrific young lion vs veteran champion! ****

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Great Muta - AJPW 10/27/02 The big October Anniversary show at the Budokan, the biggest main event they could deliver without Kawada or any outsiders. The beauty of Mutoh is once you have run his matches in to the ground with someone you can always run one with The Great Muta. This doesn’t touch their ‘96 WAR classic but it is on par with their April title match. It is the Great Muta so lots of slow-paced brawling which sometimes works and sometimes is boring. This is more the latter. Lots of looking under the ring he finds that wicker witch’s broom again but doesn't use it. He spews some mist. He finally kicks into gear with a bell Shot. It takes a lot to make Tenryu bleed he finally gets there with the bell hammer and array of other things. Tenryu clobbers him a water bottle but Muta fights through. I wish Tenryu fought back more or sold more interestingly. Tenryu takes back over by spewing the water in the eyes of Muta! He runs through his offense: Punch/Chop, Enziguiri, Brainbuster (which beat Mutoh in April), Top Rope Reverse Elbow and Powerbomb. Just not enough heat or struggle. Too neat. Muta knees out of brainbuster. Gets chair but Tenryu gets the chair and throws it at him! MIST~! That was cool. Tenryu blocks the Shining Wizard. DROPKICK to the knee which in most matches is ho hum but in Mutoh match means a lot. Tenryu hits his Spider German which is a crazy thing to do at 50. Tenryu goes for 3rd Brainbuster but Mutoh hits the Bicycle Kick. There is so weird awkward shit down the stretch. Muta Shining Wizard the ref but im not sure he was supposed to because the ref didn’t really sell like a traditional ref bump and it look awkward. Some of the pauses after the Shining Wizards to Tenryu were clunky. He won with a moonsault. It was fine there was so good stuff but this 2002 work says leave the memories along the 96 WAR match and 01 All Japan match are classics watch those. ***

The Great Muta vs The Great Koji (Satoshi Kojima) - AJPW 07/20/02 Budokan I wish I knew the backstory to this one. Mutoh has been doing a lot of losing recently. He dropped the Triple Crown to Kawada in February only to turn around and lose to Tenryu in April for the vacant Triple Crown after Kawada was forced to vacate. Kea & Mutoh successfully defended their tag team titles in January against Barton/Steele but dropped them three days prior to this match to fucking Kronik. I am morbidly curious about Kronik in All Japan. Kojima had been featured on pretty much every major All Japan show of 2002 to this point, two good losses to Tenryu with the July match probably being the All Japan match of the year and a strong win over contemporary rival, Kea. I get why you would want to do Mutoh vs Kojima, but why do the dueling Great Muta gimmicks, I do not. Great Muta has these match every so often whether it is with Liger or Onita. They never seem to be all that great. This is no different. Kojima goes for a Halloween theme for his take on Muta since orange is his color. They pay off the big spot right at the beginning. DUELING MIST~! Orange for Kojima and Green for Muta. They seem to get over their chests and they dont really sell it. Under the ring they go. Muta find an old witch's broom. Kojima gets control of it, sweeps up some streamers because he is a neat freak and hit Muta with it. Customary Muta ramp spot but it is Kojima doing it. Muta takes over raking the paint off Kojima's face in a cool spot. He tears a shirt off a young boy and chokes Kojima with it. He takes two young boys and drives them into Kojima. He busts Kojima open. They are going for all the bells and whistles. I am someone who loves a lot of bells & whistles it is how they are doing it. There is not a lot of heat. A lot of it is how Muta and Kojima sell the moment and both are muted. Wrestling the Great Muta is strange because the selling is really bizarre. Sometimes it can work because it gives you that Creature from the Black Lagoon rises again vibe or it can give you heatless, this dude is lazy, phoning it in vibe and you never know what you are going get. When Kojima hits the Ace Crusher or a German Suplex, it doesnt feel big or heated. I liked Kojima's no sell of the Dragon Leg Screws. That felt like a valiant hero bowing up to the Horror Movie Monster, but most of the match was missing that. I think in part it was because of the first half of the match Kojima was trying to wrestle as a Muta clone, but he was better cast to be the valiant hero trying to slay the beast. The finish was pretty good. Kojima goes for the lariat, Muta blocks and Kojima falls to one knee BANG! NO! KOJIMA BLOCKS THE SHINING WIZARD! LARIAT! 1-2-NO! That was pretty good. Then Muta finishes with an epic combo of the Green Mist-Shining Wizard-Cross Armbreaker (Kojima was selling the arm from the blocked Lariat). The finish was good enough to put this firmly in good territory and I liked some of the bells & whistles (the young boy spot, the dueling mist). I think they were better off just having Kojima be Kojima and try to valiantly fight from underneath against the otherworldly monster. ***

Goldberg vs Taiyo Kea - AJPW 08/31/02 The first thing the reporters ask Goldberg when he gets back is why no Jackhammer or Spear? I was thinking the same damn thing. Ultimo Dragon is his booking agent! Goldberg says he only does what Dragon tells him! Glorious! The build to WrestleMania XX should have been Goldberg and Dragon as an odd couple doing wacky antics en route to winning tag team gold. Goddamnit Vince you suck! This is a better squash than Kojima. Kea at least tries to bow up to Goldberg. I dont know much about Kea. I think the only match I watched was him main event the first Budokan show post-split. Honestly AJPW's future kinda hinged on him. I am not the biggest Kojima fan, but I think he could have carried the banner but he needed at least one preferably two people his age to help him. Kea just never seemed catch fire. Three fun spots in this one. Kea tells Goldberg to run the ropes so they can do the shouldertackle spot but Goldberg says Fuck You and clobbers him. Then Kea goes for a waistlock and Goldberg like lightning rolls through into a heel hook. The finish was sick! Goldberg invites Kea to throws some kicks. He catches a kick. Palm strike! PALMS KEA CHEST PICKS HIM UP AND HURLS HIM DOWN! SICK! Goldberg says once he heals up, he will come back to Japan and you will see the real Goldberg. He had a pretty heavy wrap on one of his thighs. I assume thats why he did not do a spear or Jackhammer. This one is fun. ***

Goldberg vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 8/30/02 Kojima got pushed pretty hard in 2002, a big two match series with Tenryu, the Triple Crown match is excellent, MOTYC level and he has a big match against Great Muta that's on my list to watch. I think it makes sense why he and later Kea are the sacrificial lambs for Goldberg. I am assuming the plan was for Goldberg to do more dates for All Japan but plans fell through. Would have been interesting to see what Tenryu or Kawada could have gotten out of Goldberg. Mutoh I feel would have been a horrible Goldberg opponent. Goldberg does the full Goldberg entrance. He does look like a total badass. Goldberg really nailed who he was on the Stone Cold podcast before fucking it up. He is the lion they fed the Christians to. Fuck yeah! He is not human. He is an animal. A terminator. Soulless. He later expanded on it like he was some sort action all-American superhero. I was like nope thats what you want to be, but you are not. You are a fucking animal that tears through opponents. Not his best squash match. No spear makes me sad. His spear is the spear to end all spears. He does not even do a Jackhammer. It is just spinny twisting thing he does out of the Jackhammer position. The collar & elbow throwdowns were the best thing. His body scissors into a legbar looks good per usual. Kojima got absolutely nothing and didnt really go much. Very skippable squash match.

Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - AJPW 4/13/02 Vacant Triple Crown Title Toshiaki Kawada continued his streak of snake-bitten Triple Crown runs having defeated Mutoh for the title in February but had to vacate immediately after due to injury. Pretty sensible title match to fill the vacancy as these are the two biggest stars in All Japan and the most recent two champions. Mutoh and Tenryu have pretty crazy chemistry together. This match continued their streak of very good matches however when two of your other matches I have rated at ****3/4 and at ***** this has to be considered a little disappointing even though I enjoyed it overall. The famous 6/8/01 match starts with a bang Shining Wizard at the bell and Tenryu is climbing out of a hole. Here they do a traditional New Japan style open. Tenryu hits the first big move a Shining Wizard and does the Pro Wrestling Love pose. Mutoh sells this as more of an insult than something that hurts which I dig. Mutoh uses DROPKICKs to get Tenryu to the outside. Crazy plancha where it looked like Tenryu ate ass and then a Shining Wizard up against the railing. Mutoh used a cross armbreaker on the floor which Tenryu started tapping out to immediately which I dug as a way to sell how painful the hold is. If it was in the ring it’d be over. Mutoh worked the arm the rest of the match which was a smart decision in my estimation since the previous match was knee focused. He used the Dragon Leg Screws as takedowns to set up wristlocks and armbars as opposed to hurt the knee which I thought was a cool touch. I really liked one of Mutoh’s cutoffs where he used a Frankensteiner to set up a cross armbreaker attempt. Another good example was Tenryu missed his second attempt of a reverse top rope elbow so Mutoh pounced with a DROPKICK and another cross-armbreaker. It was cool to see Mutoh work a different body part. For his part I didn’t feel Tenryu held ups his end. He’d go on to have a killer match with Kojima in July 2002 but I thought his selling was spotty and his high spots didn’t have the same zing. I liked the transition out of heat with a lariat to the back of Mutoh’s head when Mutoh tried the Back Handspring Elbow. The first top rope Reverse Elbow and Powerbomb had very little heat and that should have been a mini-climax. I really didn’t like how he blew off the cross-armbreakers after Frankensteiner and the missed Top Rope Elbow. He was fine but I thought Mutoh was wrestling a laser-focused match and if Tenryu was wrestling at his usual level that this could have been special. At this point, they go into a fireworks finish stretch and abandon the body of the match. Tenryu does a better job selling attrition than Mutoh. Mutoh hits a barrage of Shining Wizards after a DROPKICK to the knee. He really clocked him on the 3rd, gets two. Then it becomes a game of Tenryu lariat/brainbuster vs Mutoh Shining Wizard/Moonsault. Mutoh throws in a Kappou Kick and Bicycle Kick for good measure both which popped me. Mutoh blocks the lariat at one point. Knees Tenryu in the cranium on the brainbuster. Mutoh for the life of him cannot hit a moonsault. The first two Tenryu moves and on the third he connects but with Tenryu’s knees! Great stuff! Lariat and then a brainbuster where Tenryu fights through Mutoh’s knees to land it and win the Triple Crown! There’s a lot to like here Mutoh’s arm work and the finish stretch is creatively done. I really thought Mutoh might win on the third moonsault but to have him eat knees was creative and compelling. Tenryu warning the brainbuster was great. Peculiar selling choices by both Tenryu and Mutoh keep this at ***1/2.

IWGP Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Shinjiro Ohtani - NJPW 2/18/01 This match should be shown in every pro wrestling training school and all fans should watch it. No one will be blown away by it. No one will think it is the greatest match of all time. They make every right decision. They execute fundamental flawlessly and they build match organically. A truly special match that is so basic but so beautiful and satisfying to watch. Ohtani jumps Sasaki before the introductions are over so he still has his jacket on and Sasaki is still wearing the IWGP title. Ohtani pummels him in the corner and focuses on the arm. The arm is the instant hook of the match. Ohtani can always go back there for cutoffs. Sasaki as the valiant champion needs to figure out a way to over come it. Ohtani plays a great heel vacillating between cocky, desperate and despicable. Take note how most of Ohtani’s offense is in the ropes and the corner. Not only is this technically illegal but it prevents the bigger, stronger Sasaki from muster any offense in such close quarters. The transitions in this are impeccable. The way Sasaki is finds opportunities for hope spots and Ohtani uses the arm as a cutoff is pitch perfect pro wrestling. The first hope spot arises from Ohtani running away from his opponent to hit the ropes to gain some momentum. Sasaki is able to use this space against the charging Ohtani with a kneelift. This is pro wrestling 101. Wrestlers should not be rewarded for running away and creating space for their opponents they should be punished. Next Sasaki throws kicks which anyone who has seen a Sasaki knows is not his forte. Shinya Hashimoto he is not. However he has a bad wing so he is adapting. He throws a chop with his bad arm and winces. He tries an overly convoluted move where he tries to time Ohtani ricochet out of the corner with his own off the ropes and whiffs on a lariat. Ohtani is able to get a hold of the arm and slam it into the turnbuckles. Ohtani was punished for creating space for go opponent. Sasaki is punished for being overly complicated. Now Ohtani has earned the springboard DROPKICK to the arm. Sasaki is in so much pain he can do it. He goes for a cross armbreaker but Sasaki blocks. Ohtani sticks his tongue out and starts to get cocky. Sasaki Slaps the taste out his mouth. He winces but Ohtani let his guard down and paid for it. Sasaki hits a sledge and works hard for a vertical suplex but can’t follow up as Ohtani goes back to the arm. Charging boot to the arm. Sasaki is now prone to these attacks. Ohtani puts his boot in Sasaki’s face in the corner. Ohtani gets cocky and the ref’s count distracts him long enough that Sasaki throws him down on his ass and then with reckless abandon DROPKICKs him. He didn’t wait for Ohtani to get into the right place. Ohtani didn’t move into place for the next spot. Sasaki knew where Ohtani would be and Ohtani knew to look for the DROPKICK. Pro wrestling 101 but when done right is spectacular. Now Sasaki getting in a head shot can start to open up his offense with a power slam. Sasaki scrambles to the cover but can’t get it. He is really selling how much his arm is bothering him. Once he can work up the gumption to hit the ropes for a lariat, BANG! DROPKICK to the bad arm! Again a charging wrestler pays for giving his opponent space. I am not saying all charges should fail but when charges fails it does two things: 1. It creates compelling transitions and 2. Makes you appreciate when charges work. Ohtani goes for a cobra clutch but Sasaki battles him off. Next they do a Strong Style breakdown. Look it is a New Japan staple I don’t like it, it doesn’t do anything for this match. I’ve seen better, I’ve seen worse. Ohtani wins it. Moving on. Ohtani goes for a springboard DROPKICK but on the apron Sasaki blasts him with a lariat. This is a moment of transition where your back is turned and Ohtani pays for it. Then they do a very creative 180 off this. Ohtani gets back on the apron but Sasaki is caught charging and Ohtani smashes the bad arm off the exposed part of the turnbuckle. Sasaki could not follow up his lariat but this left Ohtani in perfect position to not one but two springboard DROPKICKs to the bad arm and back of Sasaki! This was genius! They establish this is a difficult move to hit. They come up with a creative way for Ohtani to deliver enough pain to Sasaki to cause him to writhe. Beautiful pro wrestling. Unfortunately they get a little lazy down the home stretch. It is still very good just not as tight. The transitions aren’t as interesting. The first “near fall” is a cobra clutch by Ohtani which he tried earlier but now has been earned. They did good teases Will Sasaki make the ropes or not and the crowd got invested at this point. Ohtani tries something else but Sasaki simply elbows out of it which is not as cool as some of the other transitions. He DEMOLISHES Ohtani with two badass lariats which totally makes up for it. He goes for the Northern Lights Bomb but Ohtani just bunny hops out of it which is kinda lame everyday transition. Ohtani goes back to the Cobra Clutch and back to the ropes. They do a slap battle and Sasaki OBLITERATES Ohtani with a lariat. Sick gutwrench Powerbomb and Northern Lights Bomb and Sasaki TAKES THAT DREAM! There’s an alternate reality where the shooters do not come in and Sasaki goes on a monster run and is considered a bonafide GOAT candidate. The home stretch they went the easy way. All of Sasaki’s bombs looked killer but they didn’t pay off the arm work nor were they set up In An interesting manner. Ohtani’s cobra clutch was perfect for his work but would’ve liked to seen the second near fall set up better. The first 75% of this match flirts with ***** but the home stretch is awesome but not extraordinary. It is ****1/2 for me and I could see lower BUT I think there is so much to appreciate and learn in the first 75% of this match I implore you to watch it. Bravo to Sasaki and Ohtani!

GHC Champion Jun Akiyama vs Yoshinari Ogawa - NOAH 4/7/02 The surprise of the century and a stroke of booking genius! Kobashi is back from injury and they clearly want to do Misawa/Kobashi in a year but Akiyama can’t afford to lose either guy clean because it would ruin all his progress. So let’s protect him by having slip on a banana peel to this scuzzball loser that nobody thinks has a shot. You protect Akiyama, show that NOAH can be unpredictable and put yourself on the road to Misawa/Kobashi. Wins all around. Fun little match with Ogawa coming out hot with a DROPKICK and DDT. He goes Brock Lesnar Suplex City with the Back Drop Driver barrage. When that doesn’t work he charges and eats post. Akiyama has hit eat railing. Akiyama looks in firm control. Tries to finish off with an Exploder but Ogawa cradles. He gets two Exploders but can’t win. He signals for a Wrist-Clutch Exploder…Ogawa shifts the weight and cradles him and because AKIYAMA’S WRISTS CLUTCHED HE CANNOT KICK OUT! GENIUS! Crowd is in shock! ***** booking, **** match.

GHC Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Yoshinari Ogawa - NOAH 12/7/02 My first Misawa match in years! My first Rat Boy match in years! This Misawa’s lone defense before losing the title to Kobashi at 3/1/03. An unheralded Misawa title defense means one of two things: it sucks or people are sleeping on Rat Boy. The truth is in between it is very good and enjoyable but I hesitate to call it great. I thought the first 15 minutes were spectacular. The opening was wrestled like two tag partners fighting for a singles title which was great tit for tat with Misawa teasing the elbow and them trading slams. Ogawa controls the opening porting with side headlocks and figure-4 headlocks but what is interesting is how they work in and out of these holds. Ogawa is doing everything he can to stymie Misawa’s momentum. The first Misawa elbow is met with an eye poke. The next leads to a cravate scramble. A missed Misawa Senton leads to a figure-4 headlock. Great work by Ogawa. Misawa lifts Ogawa over the top rope while in a headlock and rocks him with elbows. It takes a bit but an Elbow Suicida wins him control. I love Misawa had to earn it. Misawa mid-match control segment is the same as always but beautiful to watch. A Tiger Driver punctuates it. Misawa loses control on the outside missing a somersault plancha off the apron. Ogawa needs a DDT on the ramp to consolidate his advantage. This is where they lose me as all of sudden Rat Boy becomes Suplex City Brock Lesnar endlessly dropping Misawa over and over again on his head with Backdrop Drivers. I didn’t count them but had to be at least ten if not a dozen. Misawa hits and Elbow or a Tiger Driver I can’t remember to level the playing field. The finish stretch is fun it is a combination of Misawa Elbows & Tiger Drivers vs Ogawa’s cradles. Misawa wind with Emerald Flowsion. Takes out the penultimate segment with Ogawa in control and replace with something more creative and this match could be great but as is it is still very good loved the front half! ***1/2

Naoya Ogawa vs The Predator - Zero-One 7/7/02 Steel Cage Match To me based on the PPV cards the climax of Z-1 vs the UPW boys. This card drew 2000 more people to the Sumo Hall compared to the last show so it was a marquee match. Predator must have been thinking his trajectory was the big time. He is still doing the Brody gimmick. I think this delivers but doesn’t overdeliver. It is a very solid cage match between two monsters. I enjoyed it but wasn’t an all time, Predator threw Ogawa into the cage a bunch, hit some Brody signature spots and used the chain to attach and choke Ogawa. Ogawa used his Judo takedowns and the steel cage to regain control. Not one Not Two but THREE SPACE TORNADO OGAWAS plus a choke out gets Ogawa the win. Brody I mean Predator gets his heat back by attacking Ogawa with ten chain but that gets broken up. Hashimoto/Ogawa cut a promo head to the back only to be jumped by Nathan Joens and Tom Howard. Nathan Jones is FUCKING HUGE! I knew he was big but I didn’t think he would tower over Ogawa. Tom Howard isn’t done yet. They challenge them to a tag team match, it looks Nathan Jones did fight them in a tag team but with Corino and maybe Heidenreich (blast for the past!) but not Howard what a shame! Maybe the UPW feud still has some life left in it before they switch over to Z-1 vs AJPW. Fun monster vs monster Cage match ***1/2

Shinya Hashimoto & Naoya Ogawa vs The Predator & Tom Howard - Zero-1 5/3/02 Probably my favorite match of the Z-1 vs UPW feud but I really did like the last tag match with Mark Kerr. Call me crazy but I think Tom Howard is definitively a good wrestler. Skipped the anniversary show but will go back to watch Ogawa vs Ohtani at some point. Predator has changed his gimmick from the MMA one he did in WWE and is doing a blatant Bruiser Brody ripoff gimmick complete with chain, Hussing and the commentary screaming BRUISER BRODY every second of his entrance. Hashimoto & Ogawa feel like a real rockstar dream team. Ogawa and Predator play well together. Two big muthas that don’t bump worth a shot unless you force them. I feel like Predator wrestled better here. Ogawa goes for the Judo hip throw, Predator blocks and Saito Suplex! Ogawa powders! Felt electric. Ogawa gets that judo throw on comeback. Whips crowd into a frenzy. Great Clash of the Titans feel. Howard work like the biggest dick throughout this match. Throughout the match Howard starts with his hands behind his back. First segment was against Hashimoto works twice in getting Hashimoto down. Hashimoto third time chops, Judo Takedown on Howard army crawl spot out on a leglock. He loves that spot and he is really good at it. Hashimoto/Predator - Hashimoto droptoehold but Predator comeback. Hashimoto big kick sends him to powder. Probably the weakest segment but Predator felt huge. Ogawa comes in. Ogawa Saito Suplex on Predator sends him to powder! Great heat! Really good sequence with Ogawa/Howard. Howard hands behind his back. Ogawa tags Howard in the face. Howard takes him down second time. Howard steps on his foot on the third pass. Takes him down. He is a such a dick. Ogawa triangle choke on Howard but Howard is choking Ogawa. I really wanted them to unleash hell on Howard. Predator gets tagged in but gets flattened with STO. Turns out the white red is a Heel ref. We work a heel ref the rest of the match. Hashimoto DDT. Heel ref spot. Hashimoto Spinning Heel Kick. Hash/Ogawa Total Elimination!!! I LOVE THAT SPOT! but heel ref let’s Howard break it up and Howard tags in. Ogawa rocks Howard’s world with two SPACE TORNADO OGAWAS! CRUSHING HIM! They do their double team German but Predator attacks everyone with a chain. Japanese ref calls the match off because the white ref won’t do it. Hard to tell if it is a DQ or No Contest. Predator hangs Ogawa with the chain to set up their big match! What puts a ceiling on this is that Hashimoto/Ogawa never truly unleash hell and climax with a win. You want to see Howard get fucking wrecked doesn’t quite get there. Where the match really succeeds is making you want to see Ogawa vs Predator in a singles match. Felt like a really good chapter in the overarching story than a standalone great match and that’s alright more pro wrestling should be done in this style. ***1/2

Shinya Hashimoto & Naoya Ogawa vs Mark Kerr & Tom Howard - Zero-One 12/9/01 Skipping Zero-One’s fifth I didn’t recognize the foreigners and it looks like it was a commercial flop (2000 in Budokan OUCH!). Watching the pre-match hype this is the first time Hashimoto & Ogawa team after their long, torturous rivalry. I am surprised they didn’t cash in on one more Hashimoto vs Ogawa match before going down the dream team route. They are continuing the UPW feud with Mark Kerr somehow continuing to be roped into this. Tom Howard is pretty good, very athletic, he was the big bumper and mover of the four. With the right gimmick, he could have been a solid mechanic. Kerr is the ultimate wrestle-fuck wrestler and it is a lot of fun. Ogawa and Kerr present such a cool match up. These matches tend not to be too narrative heavy so the work doesn’t really stick with me. Ogawa vs Kerr was a lot of fun. Kerr weathers an early Ogawa storm and shows he can take the big man down. Hashimoto & Howard present a very different alternative with Howard throwing wild high kicks and using eye takes while Hashimoto works the leg in conventional manner. I love Howard’s scramble arm crawl out of the ring to avoid Ogawa. Ogawa two pancakes on Kerr and then into a really nice Judo throw was cool. The next thing I remember was Ogawa in control of Howard and Kerr breaking it up. The Japanese end up on the heels. Then it looks like Hashimoto and Ogawa are going to break up right then and there about ten minutes into the match. I remember Hashimoto shoving Kerr head first into a post really hard. Hashimoto working some solid takedown defense including that knee when Kerr shoots for a takedown but succumbing to the belly to belly into a cross-armbreaker but Ogawa saves. Again the memory gets a little hazy here but the finish run is pretty awesome. Next thing I remember OGAWA SPACE TORNADO OGAWA ON KERR! Double leg takedown by Kerr, Triangle by Ogawa, wait now Kerr is trying to make Ogawa eat his knee. Hashimoto needs to save twice. Hashimoto DDTs Kerr twice. He goes for the Triangle/armbar but Howard hits a crazy top rope elbow. Howard should’ve gotten a run somewhere. Great three move finish combination. Ogawa/Hashimoto version of total elimination (STO with Hashimoto’s leg sweep) on Kerr, lariat into a German it looked like Kerr and Hashimoto might be out. Ogawa detains Howard and Hashimoto chokes Kerr out which is surprising I thought Howard would’ve taken the fall. Not the stickiest of matches (match sticks with you) but the finish run rocked and I loved Ogawa/Kerr’s interactions so this an easy thumbs up. ***1/2

Shinya Hashimoto & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Mark Kerr & The Predator - Zero-One 8/30/01 Turns out I’ve only ever seen Mark Coleman but have known of Mark Kerr’s existence forever but just never seen him. It seems like Kerr did a lot less pro wrestling than Coleman. The Predator is best known stateside as Sylvester Terkay who I thought had a way longer run in WWE. He really stuck with me as a teenager. I loved his look and gimmick. He was undefeated in WWE in his short tenure. Why was he let go? The Predator makes a big deal that he is indeed The Predator at first I thought this was weird but it is because I guess he was going a Big Van Vader UFO gimmick complete with mask (but he took Off the mask). I assume this was to avoid lawsuits. Nothing extraordinary here but an enjoyable contest. Mark Kerr would have been a fantastic pro wrestler. Predator is fucking huge and looks killer but leaves something to be desired in his strikes and moves. Tom Howard was also the trainer of the Predator so I feel like this a continuation of UPW vs Z-1 or American Shooters vs Z-1 feud. The best exchanges were between Hashimoto and Kerr for sure. Kerr’s double leg takedown looked killer. Hashimoto gave pretty good (he did the old Takayama spot where Kerr shot off the double leg and Hashimoto made him eat a knee) but Kerr looked like a beast. Predator/Fujiwara was fun because Fujiwara is always fun. Hashimoto performed better against Predator (sick drop toehold to start) and it was clear he was going to be the fall guy. Fujiwara/Kerr was fun. Just some cool amateur takedowns and scrambles. Back to the main event which was Hash vs Kerr. Kerr gets a terrific organic belly to belly but can’t connect with any ground & pound. Predator comes in and Racks Hashimoto but Fujiwara saves with the headbutt. Hashimoto delivers SPACE TORNADO OGAWA and polishes him off with a cross armbreaker! Kerr gets on the mic to challenge Hashimoto to a singles match which has me salivating but to my knowledge never came to fruition. Enjoyable short tag match. Kerr/Hashimoto is worth it ***1/4

Shinya Hashimoto vs Tom Howard - Zero-One 6/14/03 After using Misawa on his first two big shows, Hashimoto taps Tom Howard for the main event of his third big show and they do 8000+ in Osaka. Tom Howard, Tom Howard, Tom Howard. Where have I heard that name before? Oh that’s the right he’s the UPW guy who trained John Cena among others. He was better than I expected. He kinda felt like a fake Kung Fu guy like Seagal or what have you but he was actually pretty good in the ring. Unfortunately his look is pretty normal and he doesn’t have much in the way of charisma. Of course Hashimoto has charisma out the yin Yang. Hashimoto went to So Cal to debut one of his Japanese protégés. Things got testy and Hashimoto and Howard ended up in a brawl to set this up. I never really thought of what the aim of Zero-One was. I just kinda assumed it was Hashimoto not wanting to deal with the Inokiist bullshit. It looks like he liked the Inokiist style he just wanted to be the Ace and didn’t cede that to a legit shooter which is smart. Plus he brought Naoya Ogawa. Tom Howard feels like a martial arts practitioner that Inoki would’ve vanquished in the 70s. They stand and bang to start. Good stand up. Really good. Hashimoto throws a wild on and Howard gets behind with a Full Nelson. Steps on the knee to takedown Hashimoto. Howard’s execution and movement is good. He takes Hashimoto down again from behind using a Full Nelson. Hashimoto regroups and tries traditional wrestling but on a rope break Howard slugs him! Good heel heat and takes the match up a notch. Howard wrestled well on top and got a lot of offense. Hashimoto gets a comeback started By going into the clinch and shoving Howard into the buckles. SPINNING BACK FIST! DDT! Now Hash is rocking! Characteristic kicks. Howard connects with a wild round house kick to the head for his last near fall, Howard goes careening over the top turnbuckle to the floor on a wild spinning heel kick. Sick bump. LEG SWEEP~! Kinda and step over toehold by Hashimoto to win it. Pretty enjoyable match. I see why Howard was asked back but he feels more like a midcard act than a main eventer, ***1/4

I definitely more on OJ’s side on this than El-P. I thought this match was a mess. Toshiaki Kawada vs Shinjiro Ohtani - AJPW 9/6/03 Budokan Hashimoto got injured so he had to vacate the title. We do eventually get Hashimoto vs Kawada but in February 2004. Semi-finals are the same day. Kawada beat Gladiator (Mike Awesome) and Ohtani beat Kojima (in a match I watched but forgot but apparently I liked). Apparently Awesome has sour grapes about his loss and attacked Kawada and made a point to elbow his knee. You think this should be easy Kawada selling the knee and Ohtani attacking it but they make a mess out of it. This match is a part of the ongoing AJPW vs Zero-1 feud. Feeling out process. Kawada gets his normal heel kick Ohtani powders. Ohtani sick of getting bested kicks him in knee. Gets the facewash. This triggers the babyface shine with all the typical Kawada high spots, charging boot, half crab step on his head, Kawada Kicks etc…Ohtani goes back to the knee. It just felt like every transition was random and require done wrestler to no sell and take over. It was very my turn, your turn. Just a blend of their high spots. Kawada would do a bunch of offense, Ohtani would blow it off DROPKICK the knee. Kawada would take a bunch of punishment and then blow it off and make his comeback. Good example was Ohtani has pretty good momentum hit his standard springboard DROPKICK to the back only for Kawada to go back on offense. Ohtani gets a leglock and some suplexes especially his Dragon Suplex in his finish stretch. Kawada takes way too long to polish him off because this is 2003 Japan, one powerbomb should have sufficed but it ends up being like three more higspots. Kawada wins the Triple Crown title and finally goes on an epic reign but is it too little too late. Rough start to the reign.

Naoya Ogawa vs Bill Goldberg - HUSTLE 1/4/04 I don’t know how they got Goldberg as he was in the middle of his WWE run. Goldberg is perfect for Japan. Honestly he should have just worked Japan post-WCW (I know he worked some All Japan for Mutoh) but Goldberg in Inokiist New Japan would have been money. While this didn’t meet my lofty expectations I still thought it was very entertaining. These are two monsters who are very interesting in matches when conventional pro wrestlers have to get creative and figure them out. Here it is King Kong vs Godzilla which is fun but not as fun as when a mortal is involved. Oh Goldberg is aligned with Boss Takada who is in a normal suit no Generalissimo yet. Ogawa overwhelms Goldberg early and crowds him in the corner. The ref tries to come between them and Goldberg roars back. Excellent Steinerline by Goldberg. Military Pressing Ogawa was impressive but the catch & slam popped me. Honestly it is pretty late (I’m working night shift) and my memory is already hazy. Basically there were two many leglocks. It is King Kong vs Godzilla stand & bang throw each other around. Otherwise it’s awesome. Ogawa SPACE TORNADO OGAWA WAS KILLER! They both get sick of the ref and clobber him. SPEAR~! It is not even close. Goldberg has the best spear ever. Visual pin. OO-SOTO-GARI! Visual pin! Interesting. Ogawa wants another but Goldberg dead weights him. Giant Silva trips Ogawa and chops him. SPEAR~! Jackhammer! Takada celebrates with Goldberg. Hashimoto peels down the aisle in a hilarious moment. They argue. Sick melee where Ogawa RIPS Takada down and then it gets broken up. They should have ran Ogawa vs Takada immediately for HUSTLE 2. Fun power match. ***1/4

Toshiaki Kawada vs Mark Coleman - HUSTLE 1 1/4/04 HUSTLE 1 debuted directly opposite New Japan’s annual January 4th Tokyo Dome show. Pretty ballsy by Takada. Looks like Hashimoto, Ogawa and Kawada were the native talent and this basically became Ogawa’s home promotion until IGF. Kawada is the Triple Crown champion but it is not on the line. Alright match, I always get Coleman confused with Mark Kerr. He was pretty good. Trade good strikes early. Kawada doesn’t really connect with his front kicks and Coleman takes him down at Will. Kawada gets a Triangle then Cross Armbreaker out of defense. Reset. Coleman throws fucking bombs. Great Kawada sell. He comes back with kicks. Coleman throws him around at Will with beautiful overhead belly to belly into head and arm triangle, reset in rope break. Kawada gets a rolling heel hook out a waist lock and the ref calls. Coleman doesn't have the coolest look like a Don Frye but he was jacked to the gills and clearly athletic as fuck. He looked like he has potential but this was just alright.

Naoya Ogawa vs Tadao Yasuda - HUSTLE 10 7/13/05 HUSTLE seems fully entrenched in their over the top Fighting Opera style with Takada in the M. Bison getup leading the Monster Army and Yinling The Erotic Terrorist. According to one review this is Razor Ramon Hard Gay’s which seemingly would transfer the Ace Babyface role from Ogawa to Hard Gay. Yasuda was brought in as a hired mercenary for Takada to take out Ogawa. This is pretty good but not as good as I was hoping. Both guys are more spry than I expected moving around at a good clip but I wanted to see them just throws each other around. Yasuda jumps Ogawa at the bell and tries to choke him out first with his forearm and then a Guillotine. Ogawa pops out. Great collar & elbow tie up leads to a Ogawa figure-4 and they fight over reversing the pressure. Nobody really sells shit which I’m down with in this match. Ogawa tries a throw but Yasuda ball shots and charges Ogawa. Butterfly Suplex. Ogawa gets an armbar takedown then cross armbreaker. Yasuda escapes. SPACE TORNADO OGAWA~! They fight over an Oo-Soto-Gari great struggle and OGAWA SLAMS HIM TO THE MAT! Another one! Ogawa wins! Takada comes in I assume talks shit and hears Razor Ramon Hard Gay. The amount of time spent in home ratioed to how long the match was too high. It just was not beefy and massive enough. Some fun spots. The finish was killer. ***

Way harsh, OJ, I thought Kawada crushed it in this match. Great shoot-style brawl. Echo Jetlag’s sentiments completely the first ten minutes of this is sublime! AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Don Frye - AJPW 10/26/03 Budokan The last of the October Anniversary shows to take place at the Budokan! Toshiaki Kawada is embarking on the Triple Crown reign he deserved for years finally not snake-bitten by injuries unfortunately this is decline of All Japan. Mutoh/Tenryu/Kawada was enough to keep All Japan competitive for 3 years but it was not a sustainable business model and outside of Kojima it looked like they didn’t have a future. For their big Anniversary show they tap Mutoh’s good friend, Don Frye! I think is a great challenger for a bigs how and gives All Japan a different wrinkle and Frye a different environment. Hands down this is the best Don Frye match I have ever seen! Frye looks bitchin’ as hell and I have wanted to love him but he didn’t click until now but that’s now surprising because Kawada works really with shooters. Frye really sold and bumped well for Kawada. After watching this, he deserved a high level run in the US or Japan. Frye brings an extra pair of fingerless MMA gloves and tosses them to Kawada. Kawada throws them away saying he is willing to breaking his hands on Frye’s skull. Fuck yeah! Frenetic start! Tasmanian Devil Dust Cloud! Bang on muthafuckas! Kawada gets the early advantage knotting up Frye’s hammie with kicks. Frye sells it like a million bucks. I love in these pro wrestler vs shooter matches how the pro wrestlers have to come up with openings against the shooters. Kawada is either working the leg or being a prick. He gets caught trying to get cute with Frye’s leg and Frye makes him pay with big bombs! This stretch here where they stand & bang rules! After the first barrage, Kawada is throwing desperation kicks from his ass to Frye’s hammy as Frye flops in pain. KAWADA POTATO~! That seems to wake Frye up who unleashes hell on Kawada! Kawada awesome sell and powder. It Is all Frye now as Kawada is playing right into his hands playing the stand & bang game. Frye chokes Kawada out! Ref stops to check Kawada in the ropes! This respite gives Kawada life he rocks Frye with bows from both sides. In the next scramble he gets a heel hook and never looks back. This is the one drawback of this match after that heel hook Frye gets zero offense. It lasts another 5-7 minutes. It is a great asskicking. Frye bumps and sells like a champ for Kawada but that’s what keeps from an all-timer. Kawada wins with a stretch plum! Even with the squashy finish I loved the first ten minutes of this. Killer shoot-style brawl! Add another feather in Kawada range cap! I still like Misawa and Kobashi more but this is something Kawada is clearly better at than them is wrestling people out of his comfort zone, adapting and making himself, the opponent and the match look good. ****

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Keiji Muto vs Tatsumi Fujinami - NJPW 12/11/01 This is the type of match that is so underrated. It is that mid-tempo rocker that you can just vibe and cruise too. It is never gonna be a banger or a 5-star classic, but it so damn satisfying and you can just cruise with the match. It is a lost art to have a match this simple but so appetizing. Terrific mirror match between these two. If Hashimoto is the heir to Choshu, I always felt there was a connection between Fujinami and Muto. Both a little undersized and aerial. Fujinami obviously a much better technical wrestler and Muto had more theatrics. I really love their 1991 match where Muto was in the Great Muta role. Feels like perfect 90s New Japan match. I love how they organically build from the typical New Japan amateur wrestling into such a rousing finish run. It is cool how they just take what the match gives them rather ham-fisting highspots. Muto gets the power driver elbow. He was looking for the Back Handspring Elbow and Fujinami goes for a choke. Muto breaks free and goes to his 2001 formula. He executes a Dragon Leg Screw on the Dragon. Fujinami brutha I invented that game. Hits the Dragon Leg Screw back and Figure-4s Muto (Muto screaming fuck three times helps a lot). It was brilliant. I was hooked. The rest of the match is a terrific showcase of how to do a symmetrical match (read lots of mirrored leg work). Muto keeps trying to play Fujinami's game working the leg (dropkicks to the knee, Dragon Leg Screw) but it backfires on him (he goes for figure-4, but Fujinami counters beautifully into a leglock). Fujinami is wrestling a brilliant defensive match. He throws in a Kappou Kick after a dropkick to the knee and that seems to help. Then a dropkick to the knee from the middle rope, but he leaves his feet one too many times and Fujinami throws him off with a DRAGON LEG SCREW! Fujinami hit a top rope kneedrop! Fujinami back to the figure-4! MUTO FRANKENSTEINER OUT OF NOWHERE! Shining Wizard Blocked! FUJINAMI SHINING WIZARD! CROWD AND I LOSE OUR COLLECTIVE MINDS! Fujinami goes back up top...TOP ROPE SHINING WIZARD BY MUTO! Muto hits a barrage of Shining Wizards to win! Terrific Lo-Fi match! That builds out of their chain wrestling into dueling leg work and then finally into the insane Shining Wizard barrage! Love it! ****

GHC Heavyweight Champion Jun Akiyama vs Vader - NOAH 12/9/01 Not at the Budokan but a pretty big event at 12000 with a GHC Tag Title match on the undercard pitting No Fear against Misawa & Y. Ogawa. I believe this must be Vader’s last major title shot, he looked shaky to start but once he gained momentum he looked great. This is Akiyama’s second title defense and he would be looking at main eventing the New Japan Tokyo Dome show on January 4th against Yuji Nagata. Beginning saw Vader just stand & bang. Akiyama held his own but any time he tries to pick up the Mastodon he paid for it. He tried to go up top to utilize gravity to his advantage but ended up getting clobbered to the floor. Vader looked great down here big shots and dropping Akiyama abdomen first on the railing but Akiyama came back throwing Vader on a table and attacking his right arm with a chair. Going to the outside definitively kicked this match up. Akiyama Worked the arm. Vader hit a ridiculous German Suplex to turn the tide. He basically launched him without falling back it was insane. Great spot Akiyama elbows the injured arm to break the grip but his good arm Vader clubs him. Vader works Akiyama’s abdomen on the outside. Scorpio is coaching up Vader audibly yelling “work the stomach”. Vader obliges. Perhaps Vader would have anyways but this guaranteed sound psychology. He was burying the fists in the breadbasket. Wicked front Suplex. Great selling. Insane Saito Suplex. Vaderbomb had great heat. Vader looks to take him up for the Powerbomb but Akiyama DROPKICKs the knee. He goes full Mutoh; Dragon Leg Screw and a rope-assisted Shining Wizard. Exploder! Guillotine but can’t cinch it in and Vader clubs him to get out. Vader is going for the Vadersault but Akiyama POWERBOMBS Vader! Wow! Vader throes a desperation bear paws out. Wild Vader chokeslam! Akiyama kicks out at 2. Vader goes for a super chokeslam but Akiyama wriggles into a cross-armbreaker.Exploder no go OO-SOTO-GARI! Cross Armbreaker wins it! Love Akiyama winning with something besides an Exploder or Guillotine Choke. Vader once he got rocking and rolling, looked like the killer grizzle bear he is. Loved him swinging bear paws to get out of trouble and set up his power offense. Vader still had it this late. Misawa and the boys have a formula that just works in how they accentuate their high spots and their transitions matter. ****

HONDA WRESTLED YASUDA ON THE FIRST ZERO-ONE BUDOKAN SHOW!!! LETS FUCKING GO!!!

GHC Heavyweight Champion Jun Akiyama vs Tamon Honda - NOAH 9/5/01 Ahhhhh I have been avoiding NOAH, but it seems like early NOAH actually has some shorter matches. Honda is one of those wrestlers a lot of people seem to like but I really have only watched the Kobashi match and maybe one or two others. I think sometimes on these projects, it is a disservice that the only Honda match I have watched was the biggest match of his career. Here he is challenging for GHC Title but this time against Akiyama in a much smaller venue, according to Cagematch just 3000 people. It is interesting that post-split All Japan was running the Budokan more and doing very good business even though they lost all these big stars. Obviously NOAH would get there with some big Dome shows. Interesting match, kind of confirms what I remember about Akiyama, he lacks personality compared to the other pillars. You know exactly who Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi and Taue are when they are in the ring. But who is Akiyama? Honda is another dude who instantly get as soon as he enters the right. He is the shoot amateur wrestler who is going to suplex you to death and then try to choke you out. He is like a better Yasuda. Scratch better. A more capable and dynamic Yasuda. I like how because Yasuda is limited he causes workers to get creative. Even though I have not watched NOAH in years, I just know Honda is getting Akiyama out of his comfort zone and working a different match. Man I wish we got Honda vs Yasuda or Honda in Inokiist Japan against any of the shooters he would have been interesting. Atypical NOAH start, doing more New Japan style matwork. The highlight by far is Honda's drop toehold to block a spinning toehold and counter into his own leglock. That was amazing! Someone needs to steal that spot. I love also how Akiyama slapped on a lazy leglock and Honda immediately countered into his own tight one. AJPW/NOAH transition to the action, Akiyama uses a drop toehold on a charging Honda to the steel railing to kickstart the match and consolidate control. DDT on ramp puts Akiyama firmly in control. King of the Mountain. Then some neck work. Honda back drops out of the piledriver. Akiyama shifts weight on the Saito Suplex, but in the scramble, Honda gets a leglock and looks like he has an opening. Back Drop Driver, but Akiyama responds with an Exploder. Akiyama charges, but Honda scoops him up and powerbombs him! Honda finish run here we go. He uses a choke to sap Akiyama energy and then throws him around with some HIGH German Suplexes that would make Takayama jealous. STF into Olympic Hell Choke and great nearfall here as the crowd is perking up. Akiyama grabs a Guillotine Choke out of desperation which stymies Honda's run. Honda throws a headbutt, Akiyama counters with a Jumping Knee. This sets up the Exploder Head Drop and Guillotine Choke (he had been using that as a finisher since he choked Kobashi out with it as the Second NOAH show). Tight, economical and efficient (usually not words associated with NOAH). Really solid wrestling. Honda leaves me wondering what could have been if we worked New Japan at this time. ***3/4

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Mick Foley - HUSTLE 3 5/8/04 HUSTLE is always a promotion I have wanted to check out because seems like it would be entertaining as hell. This is my sporadic request but if anyone has the video of Takada & Kawada singing Yeah, Yeah, Yeah send it to me. But this is before any Erotic Terrorists, Sumo Wrestlers hatching out of eggs or Takada dressing as M. Bison, this was when Hustle was a strait-laced freak show dream match promotion. Hashimoto/Ogawa vs The Outsiders sign me up! Overall this match was fine just a collection of their spots and Foley didn’t do anything too wild. This is within a month of his masterpiece against Orton so he could still go but they choose not to go too wild. It has been a long time since I have seen Kawada and that first glassy eyed sell made me fall in love all over again. They stand and bang nobody is bumping worth a shit Alleluia! Alleluia! Not everything deserves a bump! Kawada hits his trademark heel kick and sends Foley packing. Foley does his Terry Funk impression. Throwing chairs in the ring and gets a barbed wire Baseball bat he hits a young boy with it. Neither Foley nor Kawada takes which is lame. Foley runs through his offense piledriver, baseball slide neckbreaker, Cactus Elbow. Great running knee in the corner. Double Arm DDT he has peaked so it is time to go back to the Bat and Socko for the rest of the match. Both of those are thwarted. Kawada gets on a roll with kicks and a Stretch Plum. He gets derailed by Foley’s Japanese second who I don’t recognize tripping him. Socko! What a bizarre concept! Kawada elbows out and kicks Foley in the head to win. Felt like one of those greatest hits Dream matches where you just blend your high spots together but they didn’t bust out their big guns. Mediocre.

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Keiji Muto vs Dr. Death Steve Williams - AJPW 7/14/01 Budokan Not a bad showing for the Budokan at 12,800, Doc seems like a good first challenger for Muto. In the pre-match promo, Doc says the belts are coming home to All Japan so Muto must still be NJPW 4 Life and doing the invasion angle. Tenryu and Kawada are in the undercard in separate matches so definitely some support. I had no idea what 2001 Doc would hold but he was pretty damn fun! His body has definitely aged but he is still a Suplex machine and throwing in some Fuck Yous and Son of Bitches didn’t hurt. This happens smack in the middle of the 2001 Muto Renaissance but was not over laden with the 2001 Muto tropes. Muto was put in an early hole and had to use his new strategy to dig himself out of the hole. I dug this match a lot. Unfortunately we are JIP to Doc in control we are missing about 4 minutes on the front end of a 19 minute match so not horrible. Doc teases to Huck Muto out into the crowd with a Gorilla Press but drops him back into the ring. We get the beginning of the 2001 Muto run…Dragon Leg Screw, DROPKICK to the knee and SHINING WIZARD~! Holy shit is it already over? No! Muto hurt his knee on Doc’s face and rolls to the outside. He is really clutching it. Doc gives chase but Muto sidesteps runs him into the post. Muto hobbling tries to get back in the ring, chop block! Really nice Muto bump. Doc is firmly in control. He does a great job mixing the suplexes, knee work (headbutts to the knee ala Tenzan) and trash talk. Muto gets a Misawa-Rana out of the Doctor Bomb. Doc nails the Backdrop Driver. Muto powders classic AJPW. Muto kicks off the ring post on a second Backdrop Driver. Back in they trade FUCK YOUS! It is really off to the races. Doc hits his Doctor Bombs but no Oklahoma Stampede and some suplexes. Muto gets his moonsault but his knee stops him for capitalizing. Muto tries to go for Shining Wizards but first two times Doc catches and throws him. Doc tries another German Suplex but OLD MAN MUTO FLIPS OUT LANDS ON HIS FEET AND DROPKICKS THE KNEE! Look at Muto Go! SHINING WIZARD~! In true All Japan fashion, Doc has to eat 27 of them before he loses but his discombobulated selling after them is great and having not watched AJPW in a while I have Some nostalgia for it. Way better than I expected and it is not even really because of Muto, Doc really brought the offense and the intensity. Muto sold his knee well and built his comeback logically. ***3/4