[1993-09-20-NJPW-G1 Climax Special] Shinya Hashimoto vs Great Muta

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

The maniacal tendencies and gimmick are still in full swing, but Muta does way more wrestling than he normally does when in gimmick. Hashimoto is awesome. The match started off slow, but I've noticed that even in disappointing Hashimoto matches, he's doing stuff worthwhile. But they picked up and the last 10 minutes or so of this are really good with lots of drama. What main event, larger-than-life wrestling should be.

[Zenjo]

I usually really enjoy this rivalry but the Great Muta gimmick in Japan tilts the hell out of me. Rather than concentrate on having a good match he always feels the need to interject some wacky shit every so often to differentiate it from the regular Keiji Mutoh.

[Kevin Ridge]

Hash puts Muta in a single leg crap for a few. Muta escapes to the outside and walks around before getting back in the ring. He then after just getting his leg worked on does a flip over the ropes on to his feet! I'm about get annoyed but Hash comes out of nowhere with a perfect time kick to Muta for all this nonsense. Really only thing I liked about the match.

[PeteF3]

Really good match thanks to Hash--possibly the best post-NWA Muta-under-the-paint match. He wrestles on the level for most of this, and only goes to the garbage tendencies once he starts to get desperate. And even that's worked well--Hash kicks the timekeeper's hammer away from him and the use of the chair and timely ref bump are all creative and well-done. In the end Hash shrugs it all off and DDTs his way to the IWGP Championship.

[soup23]

A straight spectacle type match but one done extremely well. Hashimoto is a monster in this and shows how Muta could have a chance against the bigger man by taking some chances and paying dearly for them. The spin kick to the outside that misses still looks amazing. Afterwards, we get some weapon usage that gives the match a distinctive and hate filled feeling that was uncommon for New Japan heavies at the time. Kudos to Hashimoto. ****

[garretta]

I liked this. Hash finally showed the consistent ability to do more than kick, as he got the best of Muta during the matwork exchanges early, then withstood his attack before getting the winning pinfall with an exquisite leaping DDT. He had the best of this when Muta wasn't using weapons such as his mist or innocent ringboys, and he got a much-deservbed pop for his win.

 

Muta's not what he used to be; he can still hit his main spots, or at least try for them, but he can't put together a full match like he once did. That's why he's relying on weapons (including his mist) nore than he used to when we in America knew him. Some may attribute this to simply being a heel, but Muta was just as much of a heel in WCW, and he didn't use weapons or attack innocent ring attendants. He's still a magnificent pure athlete, but that doesn't translate to the ring nearly as easily as it used to.

 

I have a feeling that we're headed to another Hash-Tenryu showdown, this time for the IWGP title. Given how Hash looked in this match and how Tenryu looked in the last couple that we have pn this set, it looks like a real humdinger is brewing. If it happened, I hope it made the set!