[1995-01-04-NJPW-Battle 7] Rick & Scott Steiner vs Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Not having seen the Hase/Sasaki match from '91 in many years, I can pretty safely say this is the best Steiners match I have seen in New Japan. I also would be surprised if it's not the last really good match the Steiners ever had. I wish the match had taken place at a smaller arena, because there are so many points where the crowd is dead where they would normally be going crazy. I'm assuming that was Hase's wife at ringside. Her kissing Hase and making faces at the Steiners rocked, but sadly for Scott, she turned down the chance to become one of his hooches. Funny moment when Rick grabs the woman next to her and kisses her, and she's absolutely mortified (but laughing later). The early minutes have some other gaga too, and I always enjoy when Muto mocks Rick running in circles and howling.

 

Intentional or not, there's a nice little call back to the '92 Dome match, where Rick again tries countering the handspring elbow with a German suplex, but Muta is prepared and elbows him to get out of it. I always hate the running clothesline on the ramp, but that stuff gets over on big shows, so I understand why they do it. Scott countering it this time was fun.

 

I thought the matwork was solid throughout. It was fairly focused, with Muto and Hase spending most of their time working over Scott's leg. But while this was pretty stiff at times, I think what it was lacking to put it over the top was more aggression and heat. It's still worth watching to see what the Steiners were still capable of as late as 1995 and to see Muto start his career year off right.

[Tim Evans]

Muto mocking Rick's barking while having Scott in a hold was funny. I didn't like this as much as Loss but the final stretch was pretty fun. At least the crowd got into it at the end.

[BackToBionic]

I liked the match quite a bit actually but I agree it would have benefited from being in a smaller arena. There were some nice spots that got almost no reaction.

[Kevin Ridge]

Muto does a really long ramp run to nowhere and gets nailed by the Steiners. They could have had Scott just sitting there with a baseball bat on this shoulders ready to knock out Muto. Steiners on a Dome show seems to always pop the crowd but they are pretty quiet at times during match. Muto actually blocks the Steiners' super DDT move! Finish was fun but I would say this is below the earlier Dome show matches involving Steiners.

[PeteF3]

Rick and Scott are apparently representing the nation of Uganda, judging by their ring attire (black, red, and yellow striped singlets--sorry, not leopard-skin loincloths and moons and stars painted on their chests). The '91 Dome match is still the Steiners' high watermark in Japan but this was a lot of fun, helped immeasurably by the feel-good ending. This has some fresh new spots, like that bizarre yet entertaining interlude with the ladies at ringside, including who is presumably Mrs. Hase. Lots of twists on previous standard spots, like Rick catching Mutoh with the German suplex off the handspring attempt and Mutoh having an answer for that, and Scott countering Mutoh's ramp-running clothesline. Mutoh's final counter, backflipping through a German suplex attempt by Rick and creaming him with a dropkick, was an awesome spot and a great way to set up the finish. Hase gets the big moment, and we get a long overdue win for a native team over the Steiners. Match of the Year so far!

[Zenjo]

The Dome crowd actually did respond provided Scottie shouted at them enough. Some pure grappling to start. Then a couple of beatdowns. I got thinking that the Steiners would fit well into todays wrestling scene. Plenty of spectacular moves, no understanding of escalation. These two teams had better matches in the past. It was all watchable and a decent enough way to pass the time. Considering the bout was fairly lengthy the stretch was short. They could easily have chopped off 5m without missing anything. This will probably make my top 100 for the year.

[Calvin]

This is for Muto and Hase's IWGP Tag Team Championship.

There's some charm to this in the beginning with the crowd interactions and taunting between the two teams, but it severely plods in the middle when the Steiners are in full control and grabbing holds.

**1/4

[Superstar Sleeze]

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