[1995-08-15-NJPW-G1 Climax] Keiji Muto vs Shinya Hashimoto

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Sensational match. Of all of the NJ heavies matches I have watched on the yearbooks, this is the best one. It's a funny comment to make about a match that goes nearly a half hour, but I think they could have easily gotten another 15-20 minutes out of this match. This seemed to be solidifying Muto as a guy who they were going to be building around, at least for a while. He defeated Hashimoto for the IWGP title in May, and beat him again here to win the G1. The matwork in the opening minutes is outstanding, and the whole match is built around Muto being ready for this moment. There's an early battle over leg holds that Hashimoto wins early, and Muto ends up winning out. So Hashimoto switches to the arm, and wins that battle early, then Muto wins that exchange in the end too, and goes back to the leg. While Muto is bleeding, they didn't go the cheap route of deliberately reopening his cut and building the match around that. I liked that choice, because it distinguished this match from the others in the G1. Hashimoto hits a brainbuster close to the end and seems to take the worst of it himself -- not sure if that was a botched spot or what, but they milked so much drama from it and it fit the match so nicely that even if it was botched, they covered nicely. They each try a dive from the top rope and each miss, and after a few more hot exchanges, Muto wins the match after two moonsaults. Not only does he win, but the match was built in a way where it was clear that he deserved to win. This is the best match I've ever seen from either guy, which is pretty high praise. The only matches that I can say are definitively better are the Misawa/Taue Carny final and the 6/9 tag. It's at least as good as everything else.

[Ditch]

IIRC, the brainbuster spot was supposed to have Mutoh kneeing Hash in the head to counter it. They didn't pull it off as well here as they did in future matches.

[Tim Evans]

Great match. It started a little slow but they kept getting the crowd more and more ampt up. Another sick brainbuster by Hash.

[World's Worst Man]

I just watched this from the Hashimoto DVD set. I can't say I was too high on the match. I didn't like that the limb work went nowhere and nothing they did early had any effect on the later stages of the match (the german/dragon suplex tease never went anywhere for example). I wasn't a fan of the finish either, with Muto hitting a moonsault for a near fall and then immediately hitting another one for the win. It was still a really good match with some great selling and drama but not as good as I think it could have been.

[PeteF3]

Yet another terrific bout and this whole G-1 has felt like a rebirth for Mutoh, who was sort of lost in the wilderness these past few years. Mutoh comes off as a gutsy bastard but Hash looks strong, too--down the stretch it felt like both guys were leaving it all out there and whoever capitalized on a mistake first would win. Mutoh got the win but it was anybody's ballgame until the last 3-count. Another top-10 MOTY--there seem to be a jumble of these this year and I don't quite see this finishing higher than #5, but it should stay on the list.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Shinya Hashimoto vs Keiji Mutoh - NJPW G-1 Climax '95

 

I periodically search for this match because of the glowing reviews on here and finally saw it up. The opening ground-based work was very effective and told a logical story.The stretch run was very dramatic and led to an exhilarating climax. Overall, I did think the match was uneven and disjointed. Mutoh is someone who always runs hot and cold with me. I thought he gave a very cold performance. He was motivated and executing fine. His selling was just not there for me. He was not in pain nor was he fighting through pain. His register was weird and his fire ups did not feel organic. I thought Hashimoto was his usual rockstar self. They basically switched gears half way through the match so I will not belabor the opening work even though it was fantastic. I really liked how Hashimoto grabbed Mutoh's foot on a kick to the head and had him ready for the anklelock, but Mutoh got the ropes. So Hashimoto puts his hands up to draw Mutoh's attention away from the leg, but his eyes told the story that he wanted the leg, Mutoh read that situation was able to catch the kick and turn it into a dragon leg screw. Awesome! Hashimoto eventually powdered and on his return tries to kick Mutoh's arm off, but Mutoh smartly kept going back to the leg. I really liked the double limb psychology, but they dropped it. If you go JIP about halfway in this match you never know about the double limb psychology and on top of that the transition was just Hashimoto deciding I am just going to chop Mutoh really hard. I am not too pissed because Hasimoto is a great asskicker. The second half of the match is a great escalating bombfest. Hashimoto ramps up to the Brainbuster, but Mutoh gets a crossarmbreaker. Mutoh hits his series of moves to get to the moonsault, but Hashimoto moves, he lands on his feet, but Hash sweeps the leg. Now Hash really kicks some ass, nearly takes his head off with a kick, HUGE DDT that bsust him open. He wants the brainbuster, but Mutoh starts wriggling and they are both jarred. In a strange move, Hash goes for the top rope splash and misses. Then Mutoh misses the moonsault. It is tit for tat. They are both down. You can really feel the drama. Whoever hits the next move wins basically. They are both on their feet. Hash moves forward and Mutoh hits a snap, flash Frankensteiner! That made me pop! Lightning moonsault! Kick out. Races back up and another snap moonsault to win the G-1 Climax. Match layout was not perfect, I did not love Mutoh's selling and there was some laying around in holds. That run up to the finish was picture perfect. It is a flawed match, but still a very entertaining one. ****1/4

[ohtani's jacket]

#311

 

Is there anything more spine-tingling in wrestling than Hashimoto's entrance? I absolutely love this match. There was some debate in the Misawa/Taue thread over which was the better match, but I thought this was the better match by several lengths. The drama, the selling, the missed moves from the top -- wonderful. The cagey beginning, Hashimoto's kicks, the great man urging Mutoh to get back up, Mutoh reopening the cut, the Sergio Leone standoff before the finish (an old Chris Coey line I'm stealing here) -- all of added to a Finals atmosphere and an epic G1 climax. You could pick holes in it if you like. I'm not the biggest fan of Keiji Mutoh's offense and the finish was iffy, but the rest of this was a slam dunk. I'm off to watch the Misawa/Taue match again to see how it can possibly compete.

[ohtani's jacket]

I'm off to watch the Misawa/Taue match again to see how it can possibly compete.

 

I'm back again. How can Misawa/Taue compete? The answer is that it can't.

 

Misawa's selling is beautiful and everything is very orderly. The build progresses logically and all the little boxes are ticked, but the bout is hurt by Taue not hitting his chokeslam cleanly. All of the early work and the heat segment on Misawa is building to Taue hitting the chokeslam and he barely gets a hold of him. A Triple Crown match where Taue doesn't fire his best shot? There's no way that Taue misfiring is as dramatic as the G1 Final. Misawa's pop up on the german was not cool. And his superman punches were too much. We've all seen Misawa make comebacks where the natural order is restored and it's business as usual just like Jumbo before him but knocking Taue out like that sucked. Your elbows aren't that bloody strong, Misawa.

[Jordan]

Yeah this ruled, easily a top 2 Muto/Hashimoto match (I think the IWGP match they had in '97 is up there with this as well). What stands out to me is how tactical the matwork actually feels in this. Like Muto actually dives for takedowns with a purpose in this and actually goes about like he wants a sub win. Cagey describes this portion perfectly. And Hashimoto gets more involved breaking out armbar counters and the like. Plus that catch on the savate kick and subsequent submission was nice. I also think something as simple as character work such as Hashimoto walking around outside trying to shake off pain or getting pissed off when he's in a hold puts across the importance of it. Finally they actually transition well to stand up so you don't feel like your time is wasted.

 

Hashimoto's heat segment/extended beatdown once again is off the charts and does the job of putting him across as this powerhouse while also building sympathy for Muto's comeback. The way the crowd completely erupts just from Hash getting into a stance to strike is incredible. I think it's funny that I've seen people (not really on here) complain about workers like Christian who clap to get the crowd involved as if that's some sort of cheap tactic and not an easy way to get an audience engaged. Hash does the same here when he practically demands Muto to rise after getting beatdown and then gets the crowd to do the same.

 

Finally the finishing stretch in this is amazing. The drama milking, that DDT opening the cut moment, the near misses, how they work around the brainbuster counter not being nailed exactly right, just awesome stuff. That final staredown before Hashimoto rushes in to get spiked on the hurricanrana felt like something out of a movie. Too bad Muto can't seem to nail a moonsault finish for his life but that's not enough to dampen the match for me.

[Zenjo]

Mutoh was undoubtedly the centrepiece of the 1995 G1 and his bloody celebration would become an iconic image. I've watched the final several times over the years and have never agreed with the level of praise it often receives. A real slow burner. Keiji had been through hell physically with the daily blood loss. Hash didn't appear to be in the best of shape all tournament. As they were going full length, methodically paced matwork was the order of the day. Technically there were minor errors even near the end. Yet the selling was really strong, and the way things all came together for a grandstand finish brought it home in style. It was an up and down tournament, but a good one overall with the right winner.