[1993-01-04-NJPW-Fantastic Story in Tokyo Dome] Great Muta vs Masa Chono

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I like both of these guys and was a bit disappointed in this match. They make great use of the apron for quite a few spots, but crowd reaction is polite at best, and the match just never really switches gears. I know this isn't hyped as their best match together or anything, but I would have expected this to be better than their '96 G-1 Climax match based on reputation. Chono locking in the STF is a terrific moment of drama, as submissions are over enough in New Japan that it seemed like it would be the finish. And from there on, the match does pick up. Muta wins the NWA title by finishing off Chono with two moonsaults, after the first one fails to put Chono away. Good match at times, but not really a great one.

[benj]

Better crowd would of elevated this, but I still liked it.

[El-P]

Really good match, but like Loss said, not their best. It is the sort of match that would have got over much better in the Ryogoku Kokugikan.

[shoe]

A pretty good bout. Chono is kinda like Jake Roberts in the way he uses the STF as the focal point of his bouts, and builds his psychology around it. I thought this was pretty spirited match. The spots on the ramp was fun. When Muta did the sprint down the ramp he shit canned the work Chono did on the knee minutes later.Still I liked this bout.

[Zenjo]

Took a while to get going. Once it did it developed into a solid encounter. I liked how they utilised the ramp outside of the ring.

[Kevin Ridge]

Chono might want to get his eyes checked since he seems to have not been able to see Muta running down the ramp from 40 yards away. Nothing happening and the Dome seems lifeless and dark. Then the lights go and it finally picks up. This was still much behind their 91 G1 Climax final.

[PeteF3]

Oh come on, Masahiro...green tights with a familiar white pattern on them? Who's jealous of whom here?

 

This was better than the juniors match, though still far off from each men's respective peaks in '91. There were some neat spots involving the ramp--I particularly liked Muta missing the handspring elbow and almost Tommy Young-ing himself against the ropes. There was quite a bit of dead time in the first half of the match involving Muta wandering around, but it got better as it went along. Still, I can't help but notice the NJPW heavyweights have regressed while the AJPW guys don't seem to have approached their peak.

[WingedEagle]

This started out incredibly slowly, moreso than you'd think they'd need to given the length. The early highlight was definitely Chono's focused body work to set up the STF. Business eventually picked up with a bunch of spots that were really well paced as it never felt like they were just cramming things in to tick them off a list but digging down in a world title match. Odd that Muta's face paint seemed to crumble away like plaster rather than wash away like Sting's would. Solid finish with both going for the kill with their finishers, but Muta is able to prevail with two moonsaults. It wasn't great but it was pretty damn good.

 

***1/2

[soup23]

I was really disappointed in this. Took forever to get going and the long ramp spots felt more goofy than the Ultimo botches in the previous match. Too disjointed that by the time the finish game, I had lost a lot of interest. Disappointing as I have liked these two a good bit in other matches but something was really off here for me. (**1/2)

[The Russian Daydream]

Disjointed is defiantly the word I'd use although I thought it was better than **1/2. I'd say it was good but not very good. It was a whole lot better than the Starrcade match from a week or so earlier though. I think really it's down to a combination of Muta's way of working (as Muta) during this period and Chono still adapting to wrestling post neck injury.

[garretta]

I didn't think this was half-bad. The wandering around that some of you mentioned early on was actually Muta looking for a foreign object like the spike he'd used to bloody Hase the month before. When he actually found another spike, the referee was right there to take it away from him.

 

I've seen these two have better matches,, but this one wasn't bad. Once the ref let him know that a repeat of the Hase bloodbath wouldn't be tolerated, he wrestled a perfectly acceptable match. I liked that he used the ramp as an extension of the ring for certain spots, and Chono was a real pro for taking that face-first bump onto the ramp considering his neck injury. I thought the ref got in the way a little too much when they were outside; he should have just stayed in the ring and counted.

 

I don't think Muta blew off Chono's legwork early on; since when do a few basic toeholds need to be sold for longer than it takes the victim to get to his feet? If Chono wanted to do legwork that had to be sold, he should have tried a few more complicated submissions. If anything deserved an extended sell job, it was the bump Muta took into the ropes when he missed the handspring elbow on the ramp.

 

Even though the work here wasn't either man's best, the crowd didn't help the atmosphere at all. Were they just waiting for Tenryu and Choshu, or might they have been upset about something?

 

I noticed Chono's tights too. I'm guessing that AJPW was the top promotion at this time and NJPW was playing catchup. Also, did "Ironman" on Chono's tights have any special significance?

[Superstar Sleeze]

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Great Muta vs Masahiro Chono - NJPW 1/4/93

 

These two are about a year and half removed from their G-1 Climax '91 Classic, but they are also just a month removed from their absolute stinker at WCW Starrcade 1992. Definite closer to the stinker. If you have watched a lot of Great Muta's title reign up to this match, you will be very disappointed. What has made Muta so great is his violent, stalking monster character. He doesn't wrestle holds. He wants to claw your eyes out or choke with a cord. It is a very subdued Muta performance. I don't know if it was out of reverence for the Dome and Inoki wanted them to have a normal pro wrestling match but it didn't work. Muta did tease the spike early and the ref took it out of his hands. They never really brought the violence. The first ten minutes nothing really happens. I thought even though this was a subdued Muta performance he was still the one bringing the excitement. The bulldog on the ramp, his classic running lariat on the ramp, the missed back handspring elbow on the ramp, the suplex on the ramp, his dive from the ramp over the top rope, you see a trend Muta did a good job using the ramp. Chono had no zip on anything. Just a really blasé performance from him. By far, the most exciting moment of the match was the missed moonsault into the STF. That happened with like 8 minutes left to go in the match. Down the stretch, Chono hits a powerbomb and gets the STF again for his nearfalls. Muta hits the backbreaker->moonsault->pin, wait kickout, moonsault-> pin. I guess we know where that started. Muta wins the NWA World Championship and in a lot of ways this is the peak of The Great Muta. No mist. No blood. Don't bother.