[1995-03-07-NJPW-Muscle Storm] Masa Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

This couldn't be more Jim Crockett Promotions if it tried to be. It's Arn Tenzanson and Masa Blanchono against Hirbarry Hase and Kenlexi Sasaki. (jdw is way better at combining names than I am.)

 

The match starts crazy and ends crazy. The Wolves are laying out what I think is Junji Hirata (it's hard to tell from the camerawork) when Hase and Sasaki make the save and Hase prompts them to get their asses back in the ring. They quickly brawl all over the building before finally settling down and doing a more traditional tag match.

 

This is such a blatant American-style match. Hase ends up as face in peril and Chono is even working ref distraction spots in the ring while Tenzan beats up Hase behind the referee's back. When Sasaki gets the hot tag, the New Japan crowd actually reacts like a U.S. crowd would to a hot tag and both guys start bumping their asses off for him. When Hase gets back in, they even do an Irish whip from each corner so Tenzan and Chono go crashing into each other, which is really amusing to see in New Japan.

 

Chono ends up pinning Hase after a big boot and they try pummeling them after too, but the locker room surrounds the ring and after realizing they're fighting a losing battle, the Wolves bail.

 

I absolutely loved this. If I didn't know better, I might think the S in the corner of the screen stood for Superstation.

[Tim Evans]

Hase was a mad man in this match. Going into the crowd brawling while trampling fans. Just a great brawl for all the reasons Loss said. John Peewee Moore sticks out like a stuck thumb though.

[PeteF3]

Great southern-style tag in a New Japan setting. Choking with t-shirts, choking with tag ropes, good vs. evil, run-ins, hate-filled brawling, the works. Hase is trying to match El Dandy as master of most different wrestling styles. The one thing I really hated was Hiro Saito getting involved again at the end. Saito pounding on Sasaki with a chair in full view of the referee and the match continuing was eye-rolling to the extreme. This match could have gotten just as over, maybe even moreso, with a DQ finish.

[Calvin]

I thought this was much more actualized as a match compared to 2/17 -- which felt more like a glorified angle. Chaotic, hate-filled brawling is always fun, but give it a cohesive element to build around and you get something much more compelling.

***1/2