[1994-06-08-NJPW] Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Masa Chono & Shinya Hashimoto & Hiroshi Hase

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Phil Schneider]

Enjoyable six-man match with everyone looking good. Hashimoto was definitely the standout on the 90's stars team, his interactions with Choshu were totally awesome. They are a pair of thick barrel chested dudes beating the snot out of each other. I loved Hash getting cracked by two Riki lariats and then countering the third with a sick superkick. Our man Fujiwara was a supporting player in this match, but he had some nifty moments, a couple of gritty scraps with Hashimoto and a very cool moment where he clocks a dizzy post Giant swing Hase with a headbutt. Match never really reached the crescendo which would separate it from the pack, but despite that it was well worth seeing.

[Loss]

My summary of this would be very close to that of Phil's, with the exception being that ... I liked Fujiwara more. Yeah, how about that?

 

This works as a comparison to All Japan six-mans in 1994. I'm not sure what it says, but it's comparable in length and features a good mix of guys to make that comparison. Not really a great match, but I enjoy anything where Choshu and Hashimoto get to face off in what seems like the most important combat in the world.

[Kevin Ridge]

Nice giant swing from Hase. Good amount of rotations. This was a good NJPW six man tag. More fun in ways than AJPW. Choshu and Hashimoto interactions are the best but I too enjoyed when Fujiwara gets involves. I liked him better here than the singles match with Hash. Not much from Chono. Surprised to see Hase get the pinfall victory.

[Exposer]

This was fun rather than great but still a good match. The Hash/Choshu exchanges were kick ass and Fujiwara was tremendous in his role. Everyone else was fine as well but these are the three that stood out to me. What a shock, the three most charismatic guys stood out the most.

[soup23]

Very fun six man where Fujiwara looked cunning and picked his spots. Choshu and Hash squaring off was nice. I was surprised to see Choshu take the pin though since he is challenging Hash next.

[PeteF3]

I wouldn't say this is the deepest match ever, and in that regard it pales in comparison to the top AJPW 6-mans. But this was fun, and the New vs. Old was a bit of a different dynamic than AJPW tended to offer. Match ends suddenly and while Hase pinning Choshu is quite the shocker, I'm starting to be over all these big NJPW upsets. Liger pinning Chono, Chono doing a singles job to Tatsutoshi Goto earlier in '94, and now this...none of these really seem to be accomplishing anything for the winner. I think there's a happy medium to be had between AJPW's conservative style and NJPW's anything-can-happen method.

[Zenjo]

Three Legends against three of the top stars from the present generation. The early stages were the pairing off segments that you'll so often see begin 6 mans. It them became more fractious with some fun combinations fighting it out. Decent bout without being anything standout. I found the finish bewildering. Choshu gets pinned by Hase a week before he's due to challenge for the IWGP title. On the surface that makes no sense at all. And Hase reacted to the win like he'd just pinned Hiro Saito. No celebration or expression of surprise. Weird.