Superstar Sleeze

BLASPHEMY~! Murakami is one of the best cocky shooter pricks of all time and I fucking love Ogawa big muthafucka that Judo slams everyone with charisma out the yin Yang! Naoya Ogawa & Kazunari Murakami vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Takeshita Rikio - Zero-One 4/18/01 Why did no one tell me Ogawa & Misawa!?!? Holy shit! The big fight energy was off the charts for this one! Even thought this never reached the zenith it could have due to inter-promotional bullshit and egos, this was super fun while it lasted. I don’t want all wrestling to be like this but when it is a blood feud please bring this fucking energy! Inject this shit into my veins! To my knowledge this is the biggest crowd Z-1 ever drew. Ogawa wants fucking Misawa bad! Misawa is the most over dude by far but he plays the heel because of the promotional dynamics. Ogawa is so good at jaw jacking. Admittedly I have not seen much Rikio but he fucking brought in this match. He didn’t back down from Ogawa, bowed up and said me first. Murakami came out like a bat out of hell! It has been far too long since I’ve seen Murakami. He is an all-time favorite. The scrap between Murakami & Rikio may have been the best part of the match. Murakami’s punches looked awesome and Rikio’s shoves were incredibly. There need to be more uncooperative shoving in wrestling! Misawa/Murakami was solid I feel like Murakami took it easy on him. Misawa’s elbows were wicked over. Murakami tagged out. Misawa tagged out to boos. Ogawa and Rikio was a lot of fun. Great STO! Misawa comes in. The battle between STO and Backdrop Driver was great with winning. Melee ensues. Rikio bowls over Ogawa; Murakami is throwing wild haymakers at Misawa. Misawa threw three massive, organic, gritty suplexes to win. Fracas to close. Awesome it is too bad they switched over to Tom Howard/UPW because I could have watched way more of Hashimoto/Ogawa vs NOAH! This ruled! ***3/4.

Shinya Hashimoto vs Kintaro Kanemura - WEW 5/5/03 Exploding Barbed Wire This is a Kodo Fuyuki memorial match. I read that after the fact. They are having an emotional moment for their friend and co-worker so I don’t want to critique it too much even though I’d say this match leaves a lot to be desired. Kanemura comes out in Fuyuki’s robe. Hashimoto is given Fuyuki’s ashes by his wife and he dives into exploding barbed wire. Hands it to Kanemura and he does the same. This made a lot more sense after I read what’s what. Hashimoto beats the shit out of Kanemura who puts up little to no fight perhaps that’s a tribute to Fuyuki I haven’t seen his matches in a long time. Hashimoto The Destroyer on full display. Kanemura shoves Hashimoto into barbed wire for a third explosion barbed wire baseball bat that goes on for a couple minutes. Hashimoto no-sells kicks his ass. Fourth explosion. DDT, Brainbuster. This did nothing for me but if the friends & family of Kodo Fuyuki were moved that’s what matters.

Shinya Hashimoto & Tadao Yasuda vs Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue - Zero-One 4/18/01 HONDA VS YASUDA~! Exists! Yasuda is pretty bitchin’ on a normal day but this might have been his best individual performance of all time. He was out there trucking fools! This is when Zero-One was feuding with NOAH for two shows before slumming it with Tom Howard & UPW, Yasuda bull rushes Honda into the corner twice. Second time Honda hooks in a Guillotine Choke. This felt electric! Hashimoto and Inoue goes as you expect with Hashimoto chopping him down with the edge of his hand. Honda attacks and this allows Inoue to get his Torture Rack but he can’t hold it. Hashimoto vs Honda rocks. Hashimoto beats him down with kicks but Honda rallies with sick headbutts. I was like this is such a DVDVR/Segunda Caida match and I’m glad Phil loves this. YASUDA COMES IN AND BURNS THE HOUSE DOWN! HE TRUCKS HONDA! He hits him so hard he loses control of him and he tags out. Yasuda uses Sumo Slaps on Inoue to set up Butterfly Suplex. Ground & Pound! Honda rips him off with a GERMAN! OH FUCK YEAH! Hashimoto tags in and pummels Inoue and does that weird inverted Triangle. Finish was anti-climatic. Yasuda comes in to deliver more pain but kinda pauses and all of sudden the ref calls the match off. Was that the planned finish? Didn’t look like Inoue hurt his shoulder? I think this was to showcase Hashimoto The Destroyer but they kinda hung Yasuda out to dry and leg to a confusing finish. Should have just had Inoue tap out. Finish sucked but the rest of the match rocked! Yasuda ruled! Honda’s German was what I was here for wish it went longer. ***

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dan Severn vs Naoya Ogawa - UFO 3/14/99 (Special Referee: Dory Funk Jr) This is in the midst of Dan Severn’s long reign as NWA Champion during their darkest days. I don’t know what Inoki’s thought process was here. Perhaps starting up UFO around Naoya Ogawa he wanted him to have a belt to defend. Ogawa defeated Don Frye and Gerard Gordeau in the first two UFO events. All three of the first UFO events did 8000 or better. Ogawa is definitely a draw. To me this is my platonic ideal of a pro wrestling match. There are way better matches but this is perfectly solid wrestling. If this was the baseline match everyone was churning out I’d never complain. It is so claustrophobic. It is body on body. Full court press grappling. There is very little distance between the combatants at any time. It is like the perfect judoka vs wrestler match. You have Ogawa stuffing double leg takedowns with front chanceries. Severn blocking STO’s with suplex takedowns. It is such a great grappling match dripping with struggle. Ogawa has awesome charisma. I love how it gets so out of hand the wrestlers tumble over the top rope to the floor. Junior has to reset them. Severn’s selling of exhaustion at the end may be the best selling of exhaustion ever. His double leg takedown attempts get weaker and weaker eventually Ogawa pounces with a rear naked choke and wins the match! Have there been better matches of course but I could watch wrestling like this for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday. ***1/2

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs Dan Severn - Zero-One 3/9/02 The penultimate NWA world title defense before TNA took the belt over. The match is pretty heavily clipped even though we get the 6 minute post-match in full. They go with a screwjob finish to protect Hashimoto. The NWA President which I assume is Howard Brody at this time gets up with like two minutes before match ends and tell the ref it is time to do business. The ref had been calling it down the middle until that point. He slow counted Hashimoto couple times and fast counted Severn German Suplex for the win, They seem to intimate that Severn was not happy about the finish and wanted to come back. I forget did TNA strip Severn because he didn’t want to play ball or did they just want to do a reboot? Hard to tell if they were planning to continue this angle or they already knew TNA was coming down the pike. As for the match, clipping didn’t help. I’ve seen Severn a handful of time. He seems like someone I would like: big, burly dude with legit credentials but he didn’t connect with me here. His clubbering needs work and more charisma. His overhead belly to belly suplexes looked good. I liked all the trips Hashimoto was using. Hard to rate. I liked that Japanese crowd found the American ref’s call of two funny and started to get in on the act. Shouting two very loudly and then laughing. Weird piece of history but nothing worth seeing.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs Nathan Jones - Zero-One 1/6/02 I have been absent for a few days but you will have to excuse me because I got ENGAGED LAST THURSDAY!!! Lots of partying and planning. Hopefully I can still maintain a presence here. I didnt like this match as much as Jetlag and I wish I did but I just couldnt quite see the match through that prism. It is not horrible, but it is not good either. I know I must have seen Nathan Jones in 2003 but I had no recollection just how fucking massive he is. I thought he was a musclebound bodybuilder who was like 6'2 or something. The dude is wicked tall and built like a brick shithouse. Vince would have been a fool not to do something with him. Great look. His offense was not bad per se. Like other reviewers mentioned his elbow drop and shoulder tackle looked good. As KB8 said, he just had no clue what to do in between his moves nor did he have a clue how to feed. It led to a lot of stilted moments. Hashimoto mostly used strikes to try to set things up. I appreciated trying to chop Jones down and kick Jones as he ran by. He started working some arm locks and trying to break down Jones that way. Ultimately he just dropped him on his head of a ton of DDTs. Also the finish was weird because after all those DDTs, he did a Inoki/Mutoh style leglock and then hit an Enziguiri to win. Felt anti-climatic. It is tough to be Nathan Jones. His size necessitates being in the main event immediately, but unless you are a natural (which he clearly isnt) you get exposed immediately. My only remedy would be to put him under a hood for a year or two and let him get his reps that way and when he unmasks you can do something with him. I also wonder if Hashimoto was planning to use the NWA World Title as his main title in Zero-One until TNA screwed up those plans. Japanese promotions care more about lineage than Americans do who will invent titles. It took NOAH a while to establish GHC and Zero-One did not ever really get a major singles title during Hashimoto's run. I wonder if that was the original vision before TNA came along. Hashimoto & Ogawa in TNA during the weekly PPVs definitely would have been something!

Keiji Mutoh vs Taiyo Kea - AJPW 8/30/02 Budokan Kea’s second straight Budokan main event, defeating Tenryu on 7/20. He goes up against All Japan’s other Ace and his former co-Tag Team Champion (they lost the belts to Kronik on 7/17). Kea impressed in both those aforementioned matches but reverted to his normal self here. He brought none of the energy or charisma he showed in those matches here. The Tenryu match in particular I thought he played the part of the hungry young lion well. Here he was stuck in first gear. Mutoh was pretty content to wrestle a standard championship style match, in the midcard this would be fine but on the main event of a Budokan show you expect a little more. Pretty standard New Japan start trading holds. Mutoh starts bleeding from the mouth and overall looks to be more of the aggressor than Kea. This changes on the outside where a Kea Kick to the back of the head leads to a TKO onto the railing! Gnarly spot on the already injured mouth. Kea piledriver. Butterfly lock. Standard stuff. No oomph. No urgency. Mutoh hits a barrage of DROPKICKs and then a top rope Frankensteiner. Mutoh is targeting the arm. Kea tries to mount a comeback but Mutoh pops off a Frankensteiner into a Cross-Armbreaker which I love. Kea blocks a Shining Wizard. Kea gets a Crossface and top rope splash. The high spots are well-done and make sense but it feels like they are going through the motions. Shining Wizard! TKO! Levels the playing field! Feels very modern. Everything before this doesn’t matter now here’s the finish. Kea’s finish is the Crossface and some back drop drivers. Mutoh wriggles free from TKO and BLASTS HIM WITH A SHINING WIZARD!!! Three great Shining Wizards to win! Perfectly acceptable, solid match. Must have been a tough pull for Kea to swallow, he was Mutoh’s championship partner, got big spots on Budokan cards and a win over Tenryu but he loses to Mutoh here and gets squashed by Goldberg the next day. It looked like him & Kojima winning the tag Belts was supposed to be a big deal but he got injured and missed all of 2003 and was never seen again. Mutoh seems perfectly content to wrestle this style, solid championship style wrestling with a barrage of Shining Wizards to close. ***

Bob Sapp vs Ernesto Hoost - AJPW-Wrestle-1 01/19/03 Tokyo Dome Well I think I just witnessed the two greatest entrances of all time. Hoost stole Bob Sapp’s Madonna Holiday entrance complete with dancing J-Pop girls. His dancing was gloriously terrible. All the girls fawn over him. I was like what can Sapp do possibly top this. He fucking floats in like an Angel over the Tokyo Dome dropping Magic Fairy Dust! All the girls Ditch Hoost and flock to Sapp! ALL THE FUCKING STARS FOR THIS! The peak of Bob Sapp’s shoot career was his two shoot victories over Hoost in K-1 in 2002. Hoost is a Dutch Kickboker with a 99-21 record so seems pretty damn good. Hoost’s take on pro wrestling is it is fighting mixed with entertainment apparently entertainment means dancing. He is totally committed to his shitty dancing. Sapp Bumrushes at the bell which I believe was his actual shoot strategy. Hoost drop toehold and STF which gave me hope for the match, but that soon went away. Sapp Oklahoma Stampede is pretty good and Hoost’s verbal selling is over the top but I think his heart is In the right place. After that match lulls. Sapp gets distracted by Hoost’s Dutch coach who Sapp beats up. Hoost crowns Sapp with a chair and with the world shittiest school boy wins the match. Don’t watch the match BUT YOU HAVE TO WATCH THE ENTRANCES!!! ******

Great Muta vs Bob Sapp - Wrestle-1/AJPW 12/17/02 I finally found it! The Bob Sapp Madonna Holiday Entrance! Something that captured my imagination since the first time I saw it in college. I didnt know if this entrance was for an MMA bout, pro wrestling match or HUSTLE, but it something that has stuck with me for years. I find fantasy booking helps me fall asleep, my version of counting sheep. The Bob Sapp Madonna Holiday entrance is something I have re-envisioned multiple times over. To me it is one of those moments that truly captures the essence of pro wrestling and what makes pro wrestling the most unique form of entertainment in the world. Hands-down the greatest entrance in pro wrestling history! The match itself is actually pretty good. It is a clash of the titans, hit all your bombs, and get the hell out of Dodge match. Muta immediately dropkicks the knee but when he tries the dragon leg screw, The Beast plucks him and POWERBOMBS him! Bob Sapp has the worst lariat in history but he is so damn big who cares. They do some arena brawling with Muta using a chair. Muta applies a Short Arm Scissors so Sapp can do the Backlund spot. This is a great example of how insanely strong Backlund is. As Sapp struggles to get Muta up for the slam. I watched this only two hours ago, but the finish stretch has elided in my head. There is MIST~!, Shining Wizards and Powerbombs! Fun spectacle! ***1/4

Keiji Mutoh & Goldberg vs Kronik - AJPW/Wrestle-1 01/19/03 Tokyo Dome I dont know what was wrong with WCW 2000 but Kronik vs Goldberg drew 20,000, I guess Russo just needed to book Mutoh. Not only is this Kronik's last match together, this both Bryan Clark's and Brian Adams' last match individually. I would have imagined that Adams wrestled until he died I was surprised to find out he died four years after this, I thought it was around this time. If you asked me if Wrath was still wrestling, I would have guessed yes, shocked he retired so early. Maybe they thought they couldnt top the Tokyo Dome. Not sure if this counts as an All Japan event or a Wrestle-1 event. It was promoted by Keiji Mutoh. This is the second Wrestle-1 event. Kronik did not wrestle at the first one. Goldberg did beating Rick Steiner, which I will skip. Muta vs Bob Sapp was the main event of the first show which I will check out. This is the semi-main with Sapp main eventing against kickboxing rival Ernesto Hoost (based on some Wiki research looks like this was a work). As for the match, this was another borefest. So the Mutoh/Kea match was clearly the best Kronik match. Goldberg is such a unique presence. He is the Terminator. Not good or evil, just cold steel. They show him walking to the Dome and then he gets dressed and does his usual entrance. He is such a great offensive wrestler and so explosive. This match really did not play to Goldberg's strengths. It should have been half as long. The opening Mutoh/Clark segment was boring. Goldberg's Military Press of Adams was pretty impressive. Adams clothesline Goldberg over the top (Goldberg should not be taking those bumps unless earned). Lame arena brawling ensues. Goldberg hit a great shoulder tackle. Heat segment on Mutoh by Clark was pretty lame. Goldberg back in. He just wrecks fools. Great armbar takedown. Once in the armbar nobody really knows what to do so Clark escapes and just ends up back in it. So lame. Mutoh's hot tag was his usual 2001 schtick: drop kick to the knee, dragon leg screw and figure-4. Back to Goldberg and Kronik hits their Double Chokeslam to get their one nearfall. Mutoh dropkicks to break up the second attempt. Goldberg spears Clark through the table and Jackhammer for the win. Goldberg was the best part, but because it was so long he had to do things that were not Goldberg-esque like sell & bump routine spots and repeat spots to fill time. Another weird thing is Goldberg tagging out to Mutoh in desperation. Mutoh only knew how to wrestle his style match and it was a style clash with his partner. Kronik looked pretty good in their first All Japan match but have looked checked out here and their last match.

AJPW World Tag Team Champions KroniK vs Mike Barton & Jim Steele - AJPW 8/30/02 Budokan Kids this is why you don’t do Kronik you will get hooked! I was really curious what a WWF midcard match in 2002 All Japan would like and it looked pretty much how I expected. Zero heat. These dudes were wrestling to crickets. You could hear a pin drop. Kronik pretty much phones this one in. Their Mutoh & Kea match they were motivated this they barely tried. Brian Adams cut a promo before the match saying All Japan is the number one federation in the world now that Kronik has arrived. Kronik is the most dominant tag team and he puts all the old gaijin on notice name checking Doc, Rotundo, George Hines, Johnny Smith and of course Barton and Steele as washed. Barton says Kronik is a bunch of Johnny come latelys and he and Jim Steele are All Japan. Nothing like a bunch of white dudes arguing over who is more All Japan 4 life. The match itself is dreadfully dull. Barton looked like the only one trying. I’ve seen maybe 3 Steele matches in my life and he did his usual except he had died spiky bleached hair that made him look like Mr. Kennedy. Lots of no bumping early. Barton & Steele were given a “shine” which was Barton hitting a DDT and Suplex. Steele missed on charge and took a spill to the floor. Heat segment was even more boring. Although Brian Adams Military Press continues to impress. Clark misses a charge back Suplex. Barton’s hot tag is pretty good. Reverse top rope crossbody nice power slam. Short heat on Barton who doubles over Adams with a LEFT~! Steele does the most mid-80s hot tag possible with a swinging neck breaker and Russian Leg Sweep. Barton & Steele do a pretty good double splash in series. Steele’s looks the best and gets the only pop of the night. Adams hits the Full Nelson Slam and the Kronik Double Chokeslam wins the day. Pretty lame match with Goldberg over for this weekend. I wonder if Ultimo Dragon was Kronik’s handler that would pop me. Yeah don’t watch this.

AJPW World Tag Team Champions Keiji Mutoh & Taiyo Kea vs KroniK - AJPW 7/17/02 Yes because I’m a total weirdo I’m watching Kronik in 2002 All Japan. Crazy fun fact this the 5th to last match for both Adams and Clark period. I figured Adams would stop soon because he you know died and all but I wouldn’t have been surprised if Clark was wrestling to this day. I plan on reviewing both for their final matches together. Much to my surprise, this is did not suck. It was NOT 6/9/95 but it did not suck. I would say it was distinctively average. It was a lot of spots some of them high some of them just strikes but they always kept it moving. There was no narrative. Kronik was way more giving than I expected. Clark bumped on every DROPKICK and pretty much every spot. Adams was a little stingier but still went over on a biel easy and ate Mutoh’s offense. The match actually would’ve been better if they bumped less. Then it would have created a mountain for Mutoh and Kea to climb. Kronik kinda wrestled as monster babyfaces early big shine energy on the Adams press slam of Mutoh and the double hip toss on Kea. They do an eye rake earlier. Honestly they were just doing shit. Really fell in love with the round kick even though he sucked at them but he had a really good chop. Was he always good at chopping? Basically ran through this 2001 Mutoh sequence you know the drill DROPKICKs to the knee, Dragon Leg Screw Figure-4. Clark broke it up. Kea was pretty much a non-factor in that match he had some good strikes. He gets taken out. Mutoh hits the moonsault which most people bit on because he’s Mutoh and they probably figured Kronik was just here for a one shot, Kronik hits their double chokeslam. Kick out. MELTDOWN~! Clark pins Mutoh to win. Crush & Adam Bomb are in the same lineage as the Holy Demon Army and Misawa/Kobashi! HELL YEAH! if this has a narrative I’d give it *** it was not bad. Meltdown looked killer and am surprised that was the finish not the double team. Surprisingly not bad.

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