Superstar Sleeze

Bret Hart vs Jean-Pierre Lafitte - WWF RAW 10/2/95 The rematch of the moderately famous IYH match which I recall liking and thinking it one of the few examples of a Bret Hart spot fest. I thought this was in a similar vein. Pierre have very little going for him in between his high spots. Lots of clubbering and chinlocks but his high spots are good. Pierre wins the early clubbering battle but takes the Slaughter bump on missed charge. His bumping is also great. Bret SLAMS him hard in the stairs catching more edge than flat. OW! Pierre hotshots him. This match sounds better in review form because I am just hitting the high spots. Pierre jumps on Bret in various ways, Pierre cuts Bret effectively. You think a missed a Top Rope Legdrop would be the transition to heat but Pierre keeps cutting him off. Gnarly whip into the steps and Bret is clearly pissed. Bret revs up and goes through his usual moves. Pierre rallies with a somersault slam. He goes up top for Cannonball but a super plex into a Sharpshooter polishes him off. Great finish. Fun match. High spots land. Bret gets into with Lawler but Yankem attacks to set up Bret vs Yankem in a steel cage blowoff which I think I will skip. 1995 weird year for Bret but this was a good RAW match. *** 1/4

Keiji Mutoh vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan - NJPW 4/16/95 Keiji Mutoh Offensive Clinic. Four words not usually uttered together. I thought we were going to get mercurial stalling Mutoh but then he rushes at Tenzan and just starts wailing. He hits all his high spots in like 5 exhilarating minutes. Back Handspring Elbow. Backbreaker. Tenzan powders before the moonsault. Back Handspring elbow again. Bulldog. Tenzan pitches a fit and starts throwing chairs. He hits Mutoh with one and who no sells because he WILL NOT BE DENIED! Fist-pumping action! Power driver Elbow! I have watched so much fucking Mutoh this year and loved most of it but would never call him electric. This was electric. He crashes and burns on the springboard dropkick perfect transition to Tenzan heat. I have no idea why Mutoh was so pissed of but I loved it. Tenzan does his Tenzan thing. Clubbering loved Spin Heel Kick cutoff. Missed the diving Headbutt good transition back to Mutoh. Who now gets the Springboard Dropkick. Moonsault 1-2-NO?!? I was shocked! He wins the IWGP Title in less than a month of Hashimoto. In the spot of the match Tenzan stuffs a Top Rope Franksteiner with a POWERBOMB that nearly kills Mutoh. He FOLDED HIM IN HALF! Tenzansault in his head! 1-2-3! Massive upset! I loved Mutoh vs Tenzan title match a couple months after this. It now makes sense why Tenzan got it because he pinned Mutoh here. Genius booking. A hot sprint. Watch this and then watch title match which to be is a classic, MOTYC, **** 3/4 match, this is *** 3/4

Keiji Mutoh vs Scott Norton - NJPW 2/3/95 Scott Norton finally wrestles like how you want Scott Norton to wrestle. A big burly barrelchested Powerhouse like Norton is my weakness but more often than not I am left wanting more and am disappointed that he is not throwing his size around. Finally we get Norton the Brick Wall throwing Lariats with reckless abandon like he is swatting gnats. Immediately I pick up on this being a different Norton the violent Headbutt, the slashing chops, bulldozing Mutoh’s very attempt at offense. Mutoh bumped and sold for him so well. He made him a killer. Mutoh went to the playbook so many have when they overwhelmed target a body part and injure the stronger opponent. Here is the arm and I love he takes a Short Arm Scissors in a wrestling exchange. Take what the match gives you. He works the arm with various holes and good subtle selling by Norton. Norton bucks him off and he does great Monster Heel work on the outside using the hard metal objects and delivering stuff blows. He press slams Mutoh on the ramp. Where there is a ramp, you know what Mutoh will do. Bulldog. He comes running down only to run into a BRICK WALK~! Fuck yeah! Thats the perfect microcosm of how Norton worked so effectively in this match. Again they work outside so well. Mutoh evades a charging Norton who rams himself into the railing. A perfect setup for the Back Handspring Elbow taking what match gives you. Mutoh gets cocky and tries again In The Ring. Waist lock! Genius! Mutoh goes back to the arm! Hell yeah! I love how Norton absorbs all the Mutoh blows and just keeps swinging lariats. Perfect Big Man Brick Walk wrestling. Mutoh goes up top and finally knocks him down but it is not quite the collision you want to pump your fist. Mutoh misses the moonsault pretty bad when it was supposed to land. We get a top rope Frankensteiner and another Arm bar. Mutoh is fading, he gets a Misawa Rana out of a Powerbomb. Then Norton cleans up Bulldog Powerslam, Top Rope Shoulder Block and a Powerslam win it for the Brick Wall. Body of the match was damn near perfect. It did Peter out in the finish. I wish there was a big turning point where Norton’s steamrolled Mutoh and took it home. A little more heat on those Mutoh near falls. Tied for the best Norton match I have seen with Nagata match from 98. Great performances by both men wish we got this Norton more! *** 3/4

Bret Hart vs Sid - WWF Superstars 11/4/95 It is a Bret Hart on Superstars kind of Saturday morning. It is funny Sid’s death over a year ago is what sparked my return to reviewing and after earmarking this all that time ago here I am. It was a long windy road. Looks like they are in Saskatchewan as the Rough Riders are with Bret. This takes a normal match and elevates to a fun match. Sid has the MDC, DiBiase, Kama, Bundy and oddly Skip with him. Skip is here to bump for the football players I assume. Sid takes an early advantage but misses a charge. Here comes Bret. This turns into a lumberjack match with Rough Riders throwing Sid back in. DiBiase trips Bret. Great Sid Legdrop. Normal heat segment made better by Million Dollar Corp beating on Hitman. Skip takes a bump for the Rough Riders. Standard Bret comeback starting off the middle rope. Schmozz on the outside. Football players distract roll up win. This was billed as sort of a warm up for the Hitman as he takes on Diesel for the title but not a Elbert emphatic victory. This is the nadir of Sid’s career probably the only time he was in the midcard outside being in the Skyscrapers. They still protected him. It was fun with the inclusion of Rough Riders throwing but still nothing anybody has to see.

Bret Hart vs Hakushi - WWF 7/25/95 Steel Cage I went with the date the match happened because it was a dark match on a Superstars taping. Surprisingly Cagematch has it on 7/29/95 which is the air date for that episode of Superstars but since it is never aired it smacks me as strange to use the broadcast date for something that was never broadcast. Also it looks like this may have truly been unseen until the Vault showed it as all the CM reviews are around the release date of YT video. It is a Bret Hart steel Cagematch I should have known to avoid. Hakushi who had such cool look, attacks as Bret is entering the Ring. Bret roars back with great strikes. One Hakushi uppercut crumples him. Then they both clothesline each and they act like they are minute 22 of their match instead minute 2. Holy overselling! They wrestled the rest of the match like they were in deep waters. Just my turn your turn steel cage escapes. Bret execution was excellent as always Bulldog, DDT. Hakushi got the Tree of Woe and missed a top rope Headbutt. Bret super plex off top of the cage won it as he surprisingly went through the door. A soulless Cagematch as they both slept walked through the match in my opinion.

Wild Pegasus vs Lord Steven Regal - NJPW 9/23/95 A skill vs will match. That is not to say Benoit does not have mat skills or Regal did not have the will to win BUT it was Regal’s mat skills that allowed him to press his advantage and it was Benoit’s rabid wolverine tenacity that kept him in it. I was surprised this match happened in Japan as there was a rather strict hierarchy between heavyweights and juniors. I don’t know why it was apparent to me in this match but how much bigger Regal was both height and width than Benoit. That size advantage also played a role in Regal’s strategy but also in the story of Benoit’s pugnacity overcoming the size disadvantage. I am very much a narrative driven fan of pro wrestling. This is my favorite type of wrestling that is not narrative driven. It is very much a BattlArts ground based match. Both wrestlers especially Regal would have excelled in BatBat. Even for Benoit, having him work the mat for 12 minutes is unique. I would argue he looks better than Bret would in this setting. What keeps this compelling without the trappings of hooks and plot points is how much struggle and competitive it all is. I had the pleasure of watching Thatcher and Gulak do their thing in Lowell in October of this year thats what this was. There’s not as much to review from a beat to beat but is sporting competitive feel that wrestling promoters claim they are presenting and wrestling fans claim they want but so rarely do we actually get. As a fan of character-based and narrative-driven pro wrestling, I’d only want see one or two matches like this a card not every match. The grappling was really high quality. So much struggle and urgency. The short palm strikes by Regal. The desperation he held onto wrist control from Benoit’s counters. Benoit really cool entry into the Short Arn Scissors. It is a very Lo-fi match and I’d argue there are no high spots for about 12 minutes. Benoit flips Regal over the top on a monkey flip exchange. Benoit draws blood from Regal’s ear bashing it against the post. The chops and the Headbutts to the ear ensue. We get some high impact suplexes the swan dive Headbutt. Great Regal selling of the ear but is it great selling if it hurts? 1995 Benoit loved the Tombstone but only two. Regal sits down on tops rope sunset flip anti-climatic for most matches but perfect for this Lo-fi classic. A very cool unique match that really gets better with the blood. If it wasn’t for Benoit I’d give it a fullthroated recommendation but if you can stomach Benoit and love Lo-fi BatBat check this out. **** 1/4

Wild Pegasus vs Shinjiro Ohtani - NJPW 7/13/95 BOSJ 95 Finals I can see why this got left off the yearbook even though it is a pretty high profile match on paper for the Best of the Super Juniors Finals. A surprisingly tepid affair. Very symmetrical match. Loved each doing the knuckle lock bridge spot and kicking out the opponents leg. Toeholds. Ohtani got a dropkick and a springboard splash to outside then figure 4 the head. Pegasus hit two high impact duplexes then figure-4 the head. Very symmetrical. Ohtani invented Vaquer’s Bouncy Bouncy 30 years ago but didn’t get the same reaction I wonder why :p. Back to the match, there was no sense of progression or urgency. No desire to win. No semblance of strategy. Just working in and out of holds. Ohtani was late on a couple of his kick outs. We got a Liontamer from Benoit and of course one of his Mutha Of All Powerbombs! Excellent Powerbomber! The best part of the match was when Benoit crashed and burned on the Top Rope Diving Headbutt and that led to Ohtani rattling off a German, his patented Springboard Dropkick to the back of the head followed by a Dragon Suplex! That missed move had consequences and progressed the match. Then Benoit hit Alabama Slamma like nothing happened. Oh well. Middle Rope Tombstone by Benoit was a cool finish in this tourney. I’ll give it *** the work was solid but uninspired. The execution was there but they needed more character work and urgency, make me feel like you want to win. As an aside watched Raquel vs Vaquer live last night in Boston, I loved how Raquel stuffed a lot of her typical offense like the telegraphed Bouncy Bouncy. When Raquel missed her corkscrew elbow, Vaquer wrapped her into Bouncy Bouncy with urgency. Raquel is putting together quite the run this year.

Shinya Hashimoto vs Tatsuo Nakano - NJPW 10/9/95 The semi-main to first of three NJPW vs UWFi Tokyo Dome shows. It really goes to show how shallow the UWFi roster was after Takada. I like Nakano a good bit but he is a fun midcarder not your #2. I wish we got Hashimoto vs Takayama in the 21st Century at some point. Short match not much to it. It is similar to Kawada vs shooter match where they incorporate the aesthetic of shoot style without being shoot style. It is a hybrid between pro and shoot style. Lots of stand up wrangling. Hashimoto wrestles him to the ground. Hashimoto says bring it on little man. We get a due to our flurry of kicks from Nakano. Great struggle on the German and big reaction when Nakano gets him over. Nakano tries to finish with a choke and a cross arm breaker but Hashimoto does Backlund powerlift. We get the Right Hand of Hashimoto but what really does Nakano in is when Hashimoto STUFFS his Double Leg Takedown with a DDT. Wicked. Hashimoto High Kick and Rainbow Heel Kick knocks Nakano on his ass on the ramp. Hashimoto is feeling it. Game over Brainbuster and Inverted Triangle. Fun brisk 8-ish minute match but nothing incredible. ***

Wild Pegasus vs Black Tiger - NJPW BOSJ 7/13/95 Semifinals It is funny I have been so interested in heavyweight main eventers for the past year plus I was not sure I was ever going to come back to the juniors. I was going through heralded 95 New Japan matches and saw Kanemoto/Benoit and Kanemoto/Ohtani get rave reviews and that urge finally shifted. It was struggle to find those but this was easily found. Benoit and Eddie have a much more famous match the next year, the sleepers match also in the BOSJ. This follows the Japanese layout for he who dishes out the most loses the match. This is an extended version of their famous Nitro match in October. The match works in a lot of ways because there’s always the tension in the match of when will Benoit let it rip and tear into Eddie. Eddie stymies Benoit with holds to start good use of wrist control and the Gory Special. Love when these two Powerbomb each other. A juniors Powerbomb is always welcomed in my book. Eddie hits that Eddie splash and even under that Black Tiger mask you know it is him. You can tell Eddie is losing control and there’s this tension BANG Tilt a Whirl Backbreaker and then a Back Suplex with characteristic Stampede Snap to it. Benoit never gets a true control segment. Eddie suplexes Benoit to the floor in a gnarly bump. Superman Splash by Eddie which more people should steal and the classic Frogsplash. Eddie tries hooking Benoit up again for a suplex to the floor and they both tumble out and they make it look way easier than it is. Benoit Dives out on Eddie. Outside of Darby Allin nobody does that spot better than Benoit. The match does lack connective tissue. It is a high impact spot fest and what the match does really well is how well those spots are hit but they start to blur together at the end. I can’t remember the sequence per se. BENOIT THROWS EDDIE DOWN WITH MUTHA OF ALL POWERBOMBS! Is one. Dragon Suplex by Benoit. Eddie gets a Crucifix Powerbomb. Benoit reverses Eddie on the ropes with a Middle Rope Tombstone which was sick for the win. Not as good as the Nitro match which had Arn psychology and an out of this world pacing to all high impact moves. This is still very entertaining to watch. *** 3/4

IWGP Tag Team Champions Keiji Mutoh & Hiroshi Hase vs The Steiner Brothers - NJPW 1/4/95 Man if Bron Breaker wrestled like his dad and uncle he would probably be my favorite wrestler today. This is such fun, dumb jock wrestling. I forgot how good Scotty could be on the mat. The opening sequence with Hase was incredible. The power and drive on those double legs. The riding sequences were great. It felt so organic and competitive. There’s a dream world where Steiners stay in New Japan full-time instead of going back to WCW and Scotty makes it to the top. I would have also loved the Steiners in BattlArts. Rick is positively gleeful on the apron and wants in the worst way. STEINERLINE~! Powerslam isn’t as good as usual. Double Press Slam! The Wolverines are rocking! Hase retreats to get a kiss from his wife. Scotty gets stuff by her! So Rick goes out and kisses some random lady on the cheek! Some levity. Mutoh & Hase get their only real control segment working the legs of Scotty like they are white meat babyface team. Steiners were really guzzling them in this match. Steiners worked this slams into the buckles and STFs and Scotty even worked a Dragon Sleeper. As is custom on Dome shows, Mutoh ran down the ramp like a psycho but met the brick wall of Scotty’s Arm. A barrage of Steiner suplexes em which are cool looking but a spot fest is a spot fest whether it is floppy shit or cool throws. It was just too much ragdolling by the Japanese. There was no sense of struggle or competition. The Steiners were too strong. Mutoh reversed the Screwdriver into a Tombstone which was sick. Hase urnage into a GIANT SWING! That popped me! Rick says Fuck You with a STEINERLINE and back in offense. Steiner looked like juggernauts. Mutoh breaks up the Steiner Doomsday DDT. Victory Roll! No! Mutoh Frankensteiner on Scotty! Northern Lights Suplex on Rick with Mutoh stuffing Scotty! 1-2-3! Opening five minutes rule! It devolves into Steiner exhibition wrestling but finish is hot. Throw in some more struggle in the middle and you have a classic but this is still a fun watch. *** 3/4

Keiji Mutoh vs Ric Flair - NJPW 8/13/95 G-1 Climax Been watching a lot of Shining Wizard Mutoh rewinding back to Friar Tuck Mutoh. Within a couple minutes, you just know this will be good. Then the match keeps going and im like this is really damn good. By the end I am like this is fucking excellent why does no one talk about this match? I am loving finding a Flair performance I haven’t seen before that still gets me jazzed up. Flair encroaching on Mutoh’s space early and Mutoh taking time to hit three sides of the Ring before locking up was great psychology. Flair going down to the Knucklelock like he was facing the Hulkster did scare me BUT when Flair started working that all my fears & anxieties were allayed. We were all getting the Nature Boy! WOOOOOO! This is what all the Flair haters want a dominant Flair on top that works his opponent tough. Watch this match. He takes the majority of the match. The arm work is stellar. He works three different wrist locks, a hammerlock and some really good arm wringers. It is just beautiful NWA Championship style wrestling. He paces the match wonderfully letting Mutoh pop the crowd with uptempo offense, selling that he is overwhelmed but then finding ways to come back. After the Arm work they work a great rope running sequence where Flair sets way too early on a monkey flip and Mutoh evades and dropkicks Flair out the Ring. Flair switches gears and just starts punching Mutoh in the corner crowding him suffocating him. Mutoh is able to rally and the Flair Flip bump to the floor really sends Flair into desperation mode. I LOVE that Flair reaction to this is putting Mutoh into figure-4. No frills. Just go for the kill shot. I love that instead of being climax that just leads to more leg work At this point, as a big Flair fan I am just gobbling this up. He is working more in control than usual, he is feeding hope spots at the right time. Mutoh who is very mercurial wrestler is wrestling like a great White meat babyface and showing fire and vulnerability each in the right moments. Man after the super plex when all of sudden there is blood streaming down Mutoh’s face and he goes into Stinger in Greensboro mode the match elevates to excellent. He runs through his big offense you think he is going to win with a Backbreaker moonsault BUT he crashes & burns! SO FLAIR WORKS THE CUT! MUTOH IS SPORTING A FULL CRIMSON MASK! Flair turns into like best boxer in the world some amazing punches! Flair re-applies Figure-4 on the bloody Mutoh and the visual is insane! I was losing my mind. Mutoh goes full Great Muta but if Great Muta was a babyface. His Hulk Up with all the blood is like he is fucking Terminator. I wish he really tore into Flair there but Moonsault win was still awesome! Honestly if it was anyone else we would be ranting and raving about this match but it is Flair and it is such an embarrassment of riches still like this gets overlooked. It is a very good match that becomes a blood-soaked, fist-pumping triumph. Excellent Flair performance and Mutoh shines at the end. **** 1/4

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage vs The Giant - WCW Nitro 12/18/95 Nitro Recap: Covered the first 1/3rd of this LOADED show in Flair vs Eddie. 5/6ths of Nitro 6 are in action save for the Hulkster. Luger dispatched of Dont Call Me Buff Bagwell with a Powerslam and Torture Rack. Could fun shine spots but as boiler plate as boiler plate gets. Sting defeated Please Call Me Bobby Eaton after Eaton misses the Bombs Away Knee into Stinger Splash and Scorpion Deathlock. A couple Sweet Home Alabama Rights gets this into good territory. Alright with this match I have now watched & reviewed all the 95 Nitros and all the WCW Title defenses of 95. I thought this was pretty entertaining until the shit, dumbass Hogan finish. It was what you expected but done really well with Savage playing cat & mouse with Giant. Sticking and moving. He goes for the Sleeper. Big biel. This is only Giant’s 3rd competitive televised bout and he looks like a veteran. People talk about how quickly he picked this up. He looked confident in there. Savage gets the high knee to the back, but it all goes south on the bodyslam attempt. Tried to be a hero but came out a zero. Really good Giant heat segment with clubbing blows, bear hug. I liked the eye rake to cut off the Chokeslam by Savage. He tries to get something going with clotheslines but Giant cutoffs with a Backbreaker. Good work. There’s some cool spots that get as big of a pop as you expect like Giant press slamming Savage from THE FLOOR OVER THE TOP ROPE! Or how he misses the Top Rope Giant Splash! Excellent Transition to Macho Man Elbow Drop! Sullivan or Hart should have attacked here to protect Giant. Giant gets forceful kick out which makes him look like a million bucks. But if he is not going to win the title you’ve booked yourself into a corner. Giant dropkick and Chokeslam look cool BUT Savage cant kick out without hurting the Giant so youre left with the dumbass finish of Hogan RANDOMLY AND UNPROVOKED attacking Giant, Sullivan, Hart and refs with a chair. It really makes Macho Man look weak and it is just dumb. Have Hart or Sullivan interfere to at least justify Hogan’s save. Booking sucked but I liked the match. *** The Hogan and Savage relationship had been portrayed as the one rock solid one in WCW but Hogan’s jealousy and greed is getting the best of him and he wants the title. Macho Man is awesome in this promo and says Hogan gets the next crack after Flair and Starrcade Triangle winner. Ooooooo YEEEEAAHHHH

Ric Flair vs Eddie Guerrero - WCW Nitro 12/18/95 I am surprised Madusa throwing WWF Women’s Championship into the trash didnt make the Yearbook. Shocking at the time no doubt but ultimately inconsequential. Also Sgt. Craig Pittman comes out after this and asks Heenan to manage him but Heenan hem & haws about getting someone else to do it. I think that ends up going nowhere. These two have a longer Nitro match next year and a PPV match at Hog Wild, this is pretty short but sweet. I really enjoyed Eddie‘s shine. Some nice amateur riding sequences. Taking advantage of Flair’s showboating with a dropkicks. Then some uptempo fun with trips and slaps. Flair sells it well. Flair knocks him off the top rope to the floor. He jams his knee and Flair works it and then wins with the Figure-4 from Eddie getting pinned from the pain. I kinda like some of these unconventional anti-climatic finishes. Not every match should end in a comeback sometimes the heat segment should lead to a win. I dig it. *** After months of babyface dissension, we get a cool moment of heel dissension where Sullivan takes umbrage with Pillman mocking the Dungeon last week. Flair tries to placate him. Anderson says Fuck You. You got a problem with Pillman you got a problem with us. Heel dissension in a way is even rarer than babyface dissension. This really puts over how everyone is at everyone throats in WCW. I love this booking!!!

Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs Sting & Hulk Hogan - WCW Nitro 12/11/95 Nitro Recap: Eddie Guerrero vs JL serves as a backdrop to promote WCW vs New Japan at Starrcade. Best midcard match in quite some time on Nitro about 3 stars I’d say. Eddie gets the majority of the match as expected but Lynn gets a couple good spots as well. Orndorff takes some heat from Disco but beats him with lefts, the Boogie Woogie Elbow and a Saito Suplex. This is a backdrop from the brutal Horsemen beat down in Charlotte. Loose Canon gimmick is starting as Pillman just trashes a bunch of guys including Orndorff. Flair & Anderson have to clean up Pilllman’s mess. Spike Piledriver. Wonderful does the stretcher job. Orndorff comes back a little but ultimately doesn’t go anywhere. They are in Horsemen Country (Charlotte) so this is a great way to give the crowd some red meat to watch a classic Horsemen beat down. Pillman is the new Tully. The heat seeking firebrand and Flair & Double A will have to put out his fires. Luger was wicked over against Duggan. Duggan surprisingly takes most of the match but Luger clocks him from behind with a Forearm thanks to timely Mouth of the South distraction. He racks him up to a big pop. The reactions to Luger and Horsemen do not bode well for the Hulkster. Savage cuts one of his iconic promos one that I still quote to my project teams that I lead “How do you solve multiple problems? One at a time, one at a time, one at a time”. He has a loaded schedule Giant next week, Tenzan and then the winner of the Triangle match. Best Nitro in quite some time as the main event really delivers… A fan has a sign that says “The House Flair Built” and that is all you need to know as loud “Hogan Sucks” chants permeate the arena for the whole match and the post-match promo. Sting is still over so this is not a total pro-Horsemen crowd. The babyface shine is fun with Arn eating Press Slams from the Stinger and big rights from the Hulkster. The crowd wants to see the Nature Boy light up Hogan but they play it straight. Usual fun Hogan/Flair exchange loved the Flair Flip running into Sting boxing the ears. The transition to heat was really good. Sting had Anderson in the Scorpion Deathlock but relinquished when Flair came in and went to put him in but Arn dropped his ass with a DDT. Luger comes out and racks Hogan to a big pop. Awesome heat segment on Sting’s knee and big pop for the Figure-4, Sting be damned THIS IS FLAIR COUNTRY! Sting Press Slam! Flair holds onto his foot for dear life. Sting face buster and here comes the Hulkster. Spinebuster! NOPE! HULK-UP! You know the drill. Pillman and Luger attack. Sting fends them off. Macho Man out and Sting levels him but immediately regrets. Sting apologizes in the promo and Hogan is taking his side as the crowd chants Hogan Sucks! Savage says “I am the Master of Disaster of Overreacting, a fault I know” Savage was really on fire tonight and he accepts Sting’s apology. Still some dissension but I am enjoying these powwows immediately after the angle. The Nitro 6 (Hogan, Savage, Sting, Luger, Flair and Giant) are on fire. The booking is awesome and the characters are well-defined, charisma and heat is off the charts. Wicked fun classic Crockett match in front of a Crockett crowd. *** 1/2

Hell Yeah Brutha! Damn I would have paid good money to see that. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Macho Man Randy Savage vs Total Package Lex Luger - WCW Nitro 12/4/95 An extended Nitro by about 10 minutes looks like the overruns have started. I thought the first half was pretty skippable. Harlem Heat vs American Males was fine but nothing you have to see. It is funny how the Spinaroonie was so much bigger of a deal in WWE but was used so much better as a transition to Harlem Sidekick and the Harlem Hangover is always sick to see. Sting vs Kurosawa wicked short. Kurosawa worked the arm. Sting said not tonight brutha. Stinger Splash and Scorpion Deathlock. They hyped Scott Norton in action so I thought he get a win over Shark or Hugh Morris but then Giant came out. Weird they didn’t hype a Giant appearance as this is his lengthy match on Nitro. Giant big times Norton but Norton gets him up for an Atomic Drop to the big pop. Norton comes off top. Chokeslam. Over. Fun little hoss match. Flair is with Charles Barkley not much is said but cool as fuck. Savage vs Luger single handedly save the show and have a total hidden gem. These two have terrific chemistry. The Nitro matches of 95 far outshine the PPV matches of 95 so watch these bad boys. Significant departure from the Savage babyface formula. Savage starts out very aggressive, usual scrappy tenacious Pitbull dog energy from Savage. Luger weathers the storm and hits a clothesline. You think we are going into heat as is custom for babyface Savage. Nah nah. Savage catches Luger on the outside and back on attack with a top rope double axehandle. Luger gets the suplex. Heat Segment? Think again. Missed elbow drop by Luger. Savage works the arm?!? Savage has had a bad arm for months now so Everton expected his arm to get worked over not Luger’s. How many times do you get to see Savage work the arm. It is good to work. A mixture of holds and slamming the arm into hard metal objects. I wish there was a nice punctuation mark on this control segment with a near fall but otherwise great. I LOVED THE Transition! Luger sidesteps Savage who crashes and burns into guardrail! Luger sells his arm very well in his heat segment. Again it is solid work by Luger on Macho Man but I wish we got like a powerslam as a sort of punctuation mark before they transitioned to the finish stretch they used a head collision on rope running to level the plying field. Jimmy Hart took off the turnbuckle pad so of course Macho Man rams the Total Package’s head into the exposed buckle. The reeling Total Package wipes out the ref. Macho Man Elbow Drop! Flair it out COLD COCKS MACHO MAN with Knuckledusters. He puts the Package on top. Hogan says not on my watch. Kicks Flair’s ass and stops the ref from counting three and that gets the match thrown out. He is hauls off to clock Luger but hits Sting instead! GREAT BOOKING! The promo after is great pro wrestling theatre everyone is true to their character different motivations. Sting wants to straighten his friend out and wants the Mega Powers to cut him and Luger slack. Hogan and Macho rightfully dont trust Luger and you can see why they don’t trust Sting. Next weeks a big match tag match with Hogan/Sting Vs Horsemen they clear the air but definite dissension on the babyface side. Loved the match. Just missed two-three big moments to make truly great but this is a really good Lo-fi match. Love these two together. *** 3/4

Sting & Lex Luger vs Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman - WCW Nitro 11/27/95 Nitro Recap: First 2/3rds pretty skippable. DDP vs Badd was an angle. Whose side is Kimberly on? She threw the chain that DDP gave to her in the flowers to Badd who she came out with but we aren’t sure. Japanese women tag was a sloppy spot fest some good moves by the heels (Hokuto & Nakano), pretty much filled the spot that Luchadores would. Hugh Morris debuts for the Dungeon eats a loss to Hogan. He does a cool reverse clothesline off the buckles and his No Laughing Moonsault hits but triggers a Hulk Up to good amount of boos. Getting booed against a no name. Business picks up with the angle. Savage is the new World Champ. Hogan disputes this as the already eliminated Giant pulled him out by the bottom rope but the tape cuts out. Giants chokeslams Savage on the concrete in a cool angle. Hogan gets the better of the Giant with a steel chair. Good angle. Main Event. Is Sting on the dark side? Bischoff is unsure. Has Luger secretly seen the light? Sullivan and Jimmy are unsure. Pretty classic Mid-Atlantic match with a better finish would be good. AA Spinebuster on Sting and Luger saves. Babyface shine is so fun. Stereo Press Slams. Luger kicking ass and outsmarting the heels. Horsemen bumping and stooging. Stinger Splash! Luger throws Pillman off the top rope and “accidentally” missiles him into Sting as he has the Scorpion Death lock on. Great spot that fits the story. Good heel heat segment. Luger has enough and saves Sting. In melee, Sting pins Pillman randomly. Flair attacks the faces but Hogan saves and beats Flair back. Sting stops Hogan from beating up. Luger. Really good booking. The match felt incomplete and anti-climatic if they gave this 15 they could have something special. Better booking than a match.

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Takayama vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan - NJPW 11/3/03 Watched this at 5am when I couldn’t get back to sleep but after I finished I felt the sleep coming on so I went back to bed. Let’s see what I remember. If Tenzan winning the G-1 Climax this year was his coming out party and then would be the match that cemented him as a main event player. However long term booking doesn’t bear that out as he turns around drops the belt the next month to rookie supernova Shinsuke Nakamura and New Japan booking generally falls to shit in 2004. This match Tenzan sheds that heel goon energy and tries his hand as a serious Ace Babyface warding off the cocky badass invader. Don’t remember his hair style at 2003 G1 Climax but he has CUT his trademark tire-track-meets-sting-ray mullet that he is known for. Your boy is serious now. As I have now watched twice, Tenzan came up short against Takayama in June when a surprise Headbutt uppercut did in the challenger. This is the rematch. They put over the stakes of the match as each wrestler so very cautious. I got the feeling that Tenzan has earned Takayama’s respect and Takayama considers him a credible threat to take the title. Tenzan feels like a young lion who has matured in front of us after 8 years or so of seasoning. He has been an asshole bruiser and a goon but in this case familiarity breeds endearment. It is very much “he’s our asshole” vibe and we need this asshole to vanquish the big bad outsider. At this point Sasaki left to go work in Choshu’s short live promotion and Kojima left for All Japan full time. It was down to Nagata and Tenzan. It felt like Tenzan’s time. He was being promoted. They do some standing arm work and jockeying for position. This is not Tenzan‘s forte. Then we get the stand up exchanges and clubbering. It is very much even Stevens. Tenzan catches a kick and works over the leg. It is general Tenzan work. Dragon Leg Screw that leads to leg locks and clubbering. Again working on top is not Tenzan’s forte but it give them a focal point in this segment and a touchstone for later. There are some weird moments of Takayama modulating his selling too high and too little that is not commensurate with the damage. Eventually Takayama rips a German Suplex like only he can. TAKAYAMA ROCKS TENZAN WITH TWO BIG KNEES TO THE HEAD! Takayama’s size and pedigree make this work. No matter how down and out he is, all it takes is a suplex and a couple big knees and you believe he is right back into it. I would argue if you JIP to Takayama German Suplex you could argue this is a great match. It becomes the match you expect. The Invader beating down the ascendant lion who claws his way back into the match and wins. However the beginning does exist. The Takayama control segment is great. A offensive clinic with his cockiness that really rallies you behind Tenzan. The one foot cover is such a good spot. Tenzan is able to get the Tenzan Driver and the Anaconda Vice (set up by Takayama blocking the Mongolian Chops which was cool). Takayama is able to super plex Tenzan off the top. He is unnerved by Tenzan’s late rally and says playtime is over as he goes for those trademark big knee lifts. BULLDOZER KNEELIFT! EVEREST GERMAN! 1-2-No! Back to KNEELIFT but Tenzan attacks the knee, the callback to the beginning. This stymies Takayama BUT Takayama collapses onto Tenzan during the Tenzan Driver. Takayama goes for the cross-arm breaker but as Tenzan tries to free himself he goes from the frying pan into the fire into a Triangle Choke but makes the ropes. The match does lose its momentum when Takayama starts manhandling Tenzan with throws and hits a sick leg drop. He did a sick leg drop earlier. This feels like they are retrogressing to control segment work rather than building to a finish. Tenzan hits the Hashimikov Special or Beach Break as the kids call it. The Spinning Heel Kick which rocked Takayama in the first match, nails him here and gives Tenzan a big opening. Tenzan top rope Headbutt. Takayama comes up swinging. They be clubberin Tony! Tenzan wears him down with Mongolian Chops! Takayama lunging headbutt! Tenzan says not tonight and knocks him back down with a Headbutt of his own. I wish Takayama’s looked a bit more vicious as that would have looked so cool with Tenzan head butting him down. Two Tenzan Drivers and Tenzansault win the day. Playing off the first match finish with Tenzan absorbing the Headbutt and knocking Takayama back down with his own Headbutt is a badass idea in theory just wish execution was a little better. The leg work did come into play in the finish as Tenzan used that as a way to stymie Takayama’s momentum. Takayama looked great on offense and made Tenzan looked great. Just wish they could have tightened up the finish stretch. Very good but there’s a great match between those two lurking in here. *** 1/2

Fuck! I watched this match already lol! Didnt remember any of it lol! I’d upgrade it to *** 1/4 because the angle I was watching from this time was Takayama is the better wrestler how will they create openings for Tenzan. I thought they went with the body-hurling psychology well. It was the spinning heel kick, the slingshot plancha, the Missile dropkick these are all ways that Tenzan could hurl his body like a missile at the bigger and technically more proficient Takayama. The other was the battle of wills, Tenzan is stubborn as an ass. The way he wins the suplex battle and holds onto Takayama’s foot on kicks shows that dogged determination. There not enough urgency and Tenzan’s finish stretch peters out but I think the narrative is there. lol I can’t believe I have seen this before.

Hulk Hogan vs Sting - WCW Nitro 11/20/95 A massive main event and something that really cements Nitro as the show. This is the last gasp of Dark Side Hulk Hogan as returns to the Red & Yellow at WWIII. Sting is in the Red & Yellow tonight as a nice touch. Hogan does this weird thing where he is wearing a Phantom of the Opera mask and comes from behind on Sting and…taps him on the shoulder. Pretty anti-climatic. If the desired effect was to keep Hogan babyface it was not working so not surprise they went back to the Red & Yellow. This is babyface vs babyface and it is interesting match because they don’t work the Hogan formula. I don’t know if that’s because they didn’t want to heel Sting OR even worse the crowd cheers as Hogan is beaten up. They opt for a high speed start. Sting works in his usual strike routine. Hogan some of his signature spots. Some Sting Dropkicks. Hogan hits a suplex on the floor. It is very noisy wrestling which is pretty normal for these compressed Nitro matches. They work at a good clip and it is a lot of action. After Sting’s crossbody it feels like they ran out of all their high spots so then they decide to work the mat which is a weird choice. Hogan does that little bit of wrestling he knows. The cross armbreaker looked lame and Hogan just relinquished it anyways. They work a headlock. The coolest spot of the match is Hogan catching Sting in a bear hug on a Stinger Splash attempt. Sting very weakly kicks the leg a couple of times to do the Scorpion Deathlock. When Hogan breaks the hold and goes into the Hulk Up the boo birds are out in full force. When he missed the Leg Drop, massive pop! Scorpion Deathlock and to the surprise of no one the Dungeon hits the Ring. Dungeon attacks Sting. Savage eats a Chokeslam. Hogan and Sting send the Giant over the top rope with a chair to sell the Battle Royale on Sunday. This was a fine babyface vs babyface match. They clearly needed a producer as they lost the plot mid-way through. It obviously had crowd heat and was interesting just because of who they are. The work was just good. The booking was strange. Why did the Dungeon tip their hand and attack Sting? Why come out at all? There were ways to get around this but they were just lazy. I think this was a good idea to put on TV because it would never be a clean finish so no one feels cheated out of money and makes Nitro feel like a huge deal. Nothing that has to be seen but an interesting novelty match. ***

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Takayama vs Masahiro Chono - NJPW 7/21/03 Takayama is a promoters dream: size, power, look,technique (stand-up and on the mat) and charisma. I have made no bones about it, Chono is my least favorite Japanese heavyweight Main eventer pre-2005. A lot of this match hinges on the fact that Chono beat Takayama in the previous year G-1 Climax Final. Takayama throttles Chono to start. Big boot. Butterfly suplex. Kneelift. Oh how Takayama has a glorious kneelift. Stinging kicks to the knee. It is a clinic. Chono kinda wrestles this like he is wrestling a shooter. His offense comes in the ropes and on the floor. The turning point for him is when Takayama is returning to the Ring on the apron, he hits a Shining Wizard. Chono is laborious on offense but he somehow cuts Takayama open which adds to the intrigue of otherwise uninspired clubbering session. I did like him working the cut with punches. Takayama butterfly suplexes off the top and goes back to work. Awesome Takayama control segment big running dropkicks. Tears the tights to expose the knee brace. Kicks to the knee, leg locks. He is just manhandling. I thought Chono was going back on offense with a dropkick to the knee but Takayama BLASTS him with two High Knees to the head. Legdrop. Takayama looks to be cruising to victory when Chono the coward that he is uses the ref to anchor him on an Everest German causing him to crash down with all his weight on Takayama. Flying shoulder tackle. STF~! The one Chono spot always guaranteed to get heat. Octopus Stretch, man, Inoki really liked him for some reason. Flying Shoulder tackle again. This is where having seen the G1 Climax Finals match comes in handy. Chono won with a barrage on Yakuza Kicks to a kneeling Takayama. Here we go again. I hated This spot in 2002 and dont like it in 2003. Takayama withstands the barrage, hits his own big boot, Everest German for the Double KO finish to set up the Big Cage match. Enjoyed Takayama’s performance both offensively and tried to make Chono look good. Chono was clearly outgunned. He wrestled that way for the most part, Shining Wizard in the ropes, bloodied Takayama, used the ref to avoid the German. I he is just not that interesting. What left a bad taste in my mouth is they tried to present him as an equal at the finish. These were two badass warriors who spent it all in the Ring and fought to this epic double KO and just wasn’t buying it. Haven’t seen a Takayama match in a while but it is always fun. *** 1/4

WWE US Champion John Cena vs NXT Champion Kevin Owens - WWE Money In The Bank 2015 The John Cena learned how to wrestling match because he hit a Code Red and a Springboard. Give me a fucking break! John Cena sold out. You could copy and paste my review from Elimination Chamber and just post it here. I re-read it and feeling far more eloquent and vitriolic then. Now I have resigned myself to depression. When all the wrestlers lose their individuality and are able to do everything what is the point? Styles make fights. There was no strategy, no sense of progression, no problem solving. It just hitting random moves. They didn’t even use John Cena’s extended finish sequence to its full advantage because they used it in the match two weeks ago. He goes into it early. Owens cuts him off and the goes through sequence himself. But Cant hit the FU. I will say I thought the missed moves leading to the high spots were better than I remembered and also they were not doing the whole perpetual motion bullshit where no one stops and takes a beat so that was nice. Nothing fucking mattered. They built a little to the first AA and Popup Powerbomb but you knew that wouldn’t be enough. A lot of “modified” / “innovative” maneuvers. Yuck! The finish was Cena hit a Code Red but almost fucks it up which actually made it look cooler than when hits clean. Owens hits the Popup Powerbomb which is how he won last time but they were busy showing the replay. lol. Springboard Stunner and 3rd AA wins it. Maybe a touch better than the first but still a soul-sucking experience.

Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan - WWE Fastlane 2015 I forgot this was a Number One contenders match. I always hate these type of lopsided matches. Why should Roman put his Rumble win on the line against Bryan? Imagine if Bryan put his hair or beard on the line. The heat would have been so much higher. Of course you would have heeled Roman but also you kinda had to do this match after Rumble 2015 which I was at. I watched this live with my good buddy Nick and my gut back then was very good but not great and I thought the match was pretty overrated. Let’s see what I think ten years later. So when I watch these live I am usually with someone so I am not paying rapt attention. I freely admit I missed the story last time. I would put some of the onus on them as this is a very choppy, noisy match. I am inclined to like 1-3 major momentum shifts in a match with lengthy control segments. I think this match was specifically designed to avoid long control segments because of fear of heeling Roman. If there is so much action, you Cant achieve a steady state and the fans Cant grow restless and boo Roman. Now there are plenty of choppy matches I like there’s many different ways to skin a cat I am just pointing out the structure and why someone who is casually watching with his buddies might have missed the narrative. On this rewatch, I dug the narrative and the commentators really put it over. It was the technique and speed of Bryan against the power of Roman. Bryan does a side headlock Roman powers out and get his own. Bryan tries a surfboard. Power out. Bryan tries his finish sequence you know the one backflip off the turnbuckles and fly around. Nope Roman cuts it off. Bryan tries to knot up the knees and a leg lock. You guessed it power out. I’ll pause there. Great story but to borrow a phrase from Matt D I was missing the negative space work. Again I think they were so petrified of Roman getting booed, that he did no character work. He could have done dumb jock shit like Luger and Sting. Badass shit like Kobashi or Hashimoto. He just did nothing. I love a wrestler who changes strategies one of the major reasons Flair is my #2. Danielson never sold these strategies were not working. It was a very muted performance by both. The Liver Kick. I got pretty excited at this point. Something for us to sink our teeth into. We didn’t go with a traditional shine. We opted for an interesting narrative that was a bit dry but here we go. Roman sold this and the leg work pretty well. His selling was much better than character work on offense. Danielson picks up the pace with dropkicks in the corner. Then Roman Powerbombs him off the top as a counter to a Frakensteiner. Ugh. Heavy sigh. I try to stay in it. Calm myself down. Yes a little early for a hope spot of this magnitude but surely they will get back on the liver. Danielson counters a Roman top rope move. Suicide dives by Danielson. So much for the liver kick. Again it is a lot of noise down the stretch. Not in a Late State All Japan or NOAH way. It is not a fireworks display. It’s a lot of counters. No one can really get momentum. The characters are NOT selling urgency or desperation. That’s what is missing!!! This is why we write these bad boys. I needed to work through that. That’s what is missing URGENCY AND DESPERATION! They are NOT working fast from a tempo standpoint. This is a mid-tempo rocker. This is not like today where they wrestle like the motion smoothing is left on or we watching the stage blocking routine. It is not overtly cooperative. The spots are well-executed. They were working fast from a sense of not letting the crowd in. Not showing vulnerability. Roman sets up for the Spear. Danielson quashes that with a small package. Running Knee. 1-2-No! Good near fall they aren’t going overboard with bombs or near falls which I dig. Danielson does his Yes Kicks. ROMAN CATCHES THE FOOT GRABS BY THE THROAT AND DEATH STARES HIM! Thats the moment. That’s what I am talking about. Roman didnt do that shit at all during the match. If he did that all match we are talking a totally different experience. But if you do that, you have to pause and let the crowd in and let them react. That’s scary what if they boo or do nothing. But you got to do it anyways even if it is scary or uncomfortable. We get the Yes Lock for one last Danielson near fall. Roman bludgeons Danielson which kind of undoes all the hard work of not trying to heel him. Danielson goes for the knee but eats a Spear! They were in a tough spot, babyface vs babyface and where the babyface they wanted to be the Ace was not over as a babyface. There’s countless examples of how to make this dynamic work such as Bret vs Diesel at Rumble 95. I think the easiest solution would have been Danielson to play the subtle heel. If he didn’t go that route, sell the desperation and exasperation of trying everything but this powerhouse keeps overwhelming you. For Roman let us in, brutha, give me some dumb jock shit or Terminator Destroyer shit. It is interesting narrative, but the character work leaves it is at very good but not great. *** 1/2

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata vs Osamu Nishimura - NJPW 2/2/03 Nishimura is a cult favorite and have seen a couple of his matches. I would say I like him but don’t love him. Cool that he got a title shot against Nagata who in the middle of a lengthy title reign. Unfortunately I am This one started off very promising with Nagata beating Nishimura like he owed him money. Nagata’s strikes looked real good. The boyish Nishimura finally lights him up with his Hoss Funk Uppercuts. I was kinda excited we were going to get this tempers flared out of control Inokiist style of brawl. Instead we eventually ground back down. Lots of really cool bridging from Nishimura. That’s what we need more in wrestling…bridging. It is the wrestler’s wrestler move. You have me in a predicament…BRIDGE~! Nagata controls most of the ground game attacking the arm. Nishimura eventually gets a Double Wristlock takedown and begins to frustrate Nagata as he is taking control. Nagata gets frustrated and punts him out the Ring. Nishimura is able to dragon leg screw and gets a Bombs Away Knee Drop across the shin and then the Funk Spinning Toehold. A very very nice 70s sequence. Nagata tries to mount a comeback but Nishimura clamps on an Abdominal Stretch then gets the Octopus Stretch to a big pop. He releases to hit a Bombs Away Knee Drop which was a cool near fall. Nishimura loses control when he commits the cardinal sin of 70s wrestling by whipping Nagata into the corner. By creating the space willfully, Nagata took advantage with a spinning heel kick. Nagata proceeds to demolish Nishimura first with a Knee then the Disarmor followed by a Wrist Clutch Exploder. Finally wins with the Crossface. A very tight 20 minute title defense. Efficient and great progression. I thought it was a bit dry which I find both these guys to be. It is a match that checks all the boxes but lacks soul so I have it just under “great”. *** 3/4

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Manabu Nakanishi – NJPW 6/2/00 Someone I believe in this match is nicknamed “Mr. Unbelievable” based on the commentators but based on Google didn’t think it was either. Unfortunately, I am doing this review about 4 hours after I watched it, but I thought this was a particularly boring match so I am not too worried about getting every detail right. I have been enjoying these Sasaki title defenses against these upper midcarders (Frye, Kojima and Iizuka), but this one has been one I have been kinda dreading because I find Nakanishi so miserably boring. He didn’t disappoint. Each title defense has established Sasaki as the better overall wrestler, but for the challenger to pick a body part work over it and then Sasaki gets so desperate and he hauls off and clocks the opponent. This has been a great formula but this match was just nowhere near as interesting. Nakanishi is the bigger much more boring version of Sasaki. Unlike the other Sasaki defenses, Sasaki is giving the power advantage away to Nakanishi. They collide right off the bat like two bulls. Then have a pretty standard chop battle that wouldn’t look out of place in 2025. They slow things down and start to work the mat. Sasaki telegraphed his usual spot of ricocheting off the ropes while his opponent ricochets off the buckles, Nakanishi stops short and nails a spear. Nakanishi worked the spear a lot. Nakanishi had no juice in his control segment. It was all Spears and Torture Racks. Sasaki’s offensive strategy was interesting because he at least varied his strategy. Realizing he didn’t have his normal power advantage, he was able to get a guillotine choke out of a spear attempt and that laid his first in-roads. We see eventually Nakanishi get another spear and then throw a Terry Bam Bam Gordy like fit and apply a Torture Rack and throw a couple big suplexes. I believe this is the point where Sasaki CLOCKS Nakanishi with the closed fist which his signature when he gets very far behind in a match. I now want to go back and watch the Kawada knowing this has been his 2000 signature and see when he finally hauls off punches Kawada. I think this was a perfect time for the punch. I thought the combination of Spear/Torture Rack felt like a good time for Sasaki to show desperation. My issue is that the spot ends up NOT being the turning point of the match. He ends up getting steamrolled again by a Barrage of Spears think if Bron Breaker’s only offense was spears. He did attempt one last Torture Rack, but Sasaki survived and he whipped him down. I get that Torture Rack is not an easy hold to keep applied for a long period of time but it still seemed kinda lame to just give it up and also transition back to Sasaki is so lame. Besides going to back to the Guillotine Choke which was cool, Sasaki just finished him with Lariat, Super Northern Lights Bomb which is special and a Northern Lights Bomb. I am not really sure Nakanishi deserved the Super Northern Lights Bomb. Nakanishi is such a chore to watch and I saw he made the G1 Climax Finals in 2000 against Sasaki so dreading that match. I am not surprised that Inoki went with the shooters, once the Musketeers left, his talent pool just wasn’t going to draw 50k+ to Dome if it was some combination of Sasaki, Nagata, Kojima, Tenzan and Nakanishi. Besides Nakanishi, I like all four of those guys, I don’t think you can tell me any combination of those four are going to be drawing huge numbers. I thought this was a great Sasaki performance, he put Nakanishi over as a beast. He let Nakanishi outpower him which is his game. He came up with the Guillotine Choke to neutralize Nakanishi and set up his usual finishing stretch. It takes two to tango and unfortunately Nakanishi is fucking boring. ***

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