[1995-12-13-WAR-Super J Cup] Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[El-P]

Jericho was really all about doing cool spots back then, complete with the "Yeah baby!" babyface shout. Cool to see how far he went.

[MJH]

Benoit's problem at this point was that because he was so fucking good, and his peerless execution can't really be hidden, no matter how hard he'd try to make them look good, his opponents would just come off looking inferior. Such is the case here.

[Loss]

This match was a little overhyped for years -- I suspect because people knew Benoit and Jericho more than they knew most people from this show -- but it's still a good match. I still think they had better matches in WWE when Jericho became a more complete wrestler.

[Tim Evans]

I'm guessing this is a first round match. It was good and I liked the powerslam finish.

[PeteF3]

Pretty good match. Not as spectacular but maybe a little more fundamentally sound than the good but overindulgent Jericho/Ultimo match. Jericho hangs surprisingly well doing the mat-based stuff and Benoit knows how to reign in the worst tendencies of the style.

[El-P]

Wild Pegasus vs Lionheart. That how they are actually introduced. Is this a Canadian version of Saint Seya now ? "Come on motherfucker !" Wow. That's no Gold Saint talk, Jericho. Mechanically not as slick and swift as that match with that non-Saint Tiger fellow, but the whole story of Jericho wanting to upstage Benoit and show off some amazing offensive move and getting frustrated in the process makes it better to me. More dynamic. And I admit I "Come on baby !" Jericho cracks me up. Benoit, well, is a machine. Very good match in a formative way. Oh, and of course, at the end, Seya wins.

[Zenjo]

Rion Harto's loudmouth character was gratingly obnoxious. He certainly hadn't entered his prime yet. A match that felt longer than it was because a disproportionate amount of time was given over to the closing stretch. It had some decent stuff in it, but nothing standout.