[1990-05-24-NJPW] Riki Choshu vs Keiji Muto

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I thought this was outstanding. Way better than I expected, with a nice story. Muto wants to brawl and wrestle a fast-paced match, and Choshu would rather school him on the mat. Muto is still wrestling like Muta here, which is something he would lose as the decade progressed. They do spend a lot of time on the mat, but the holds are really well-worked. Muto hits Choshu with a tremendous dive near the end of this, which is even more impressive considering that Muto was working on a bad knee. There's a lot of suspense in the closing minutes, first with Muto getting some really close nearfalls on Choshu, then with Choshu locking in the sharpshooter and teasing a Muto submission. The first Japanese match on the set that really feels like a 90s Japan match. Choshu turns him inside out with a lariat to win this at the end, but Muto pushed him to the limit. Great, great match!

[Tim Cooke]

I thought this was excellent as well. Hot start, hot finish, with a perfectly acceptable middle.

[PeteF3]

Super-hot start with a motherfucking plancha from Choshu! Mutoh tries to slow things down by taking out Choshu's legs and gets some very close near-falls, but Choshu eventually takes over and is able to lariat Mutoh down. Mutoh was back to working as the plucky young underdog after a year of working as a monster heel and he didn't seem to lose a beat.

[soup23]

Feel like I am lower on this than everyone else because I am very unforgiving on how quickly Muto blew off the leg work. I have no problem with long mat work in the middle of the match as long as it is interesting and tells a great story. It was interesting here and a good cool down after the hot opening. The struggle and jockeying were well performed but then Muto makes his comeback hitting his backspring elbow, kip ups, dropkicks, and huge dives to the outside. The moves are impressive but the logic is lacking and I disconnected from the match. I would still classify it as a good match but I really wish the logic holes would have been filled because this had the structure of a hidden great match.

[shoe]

This starts hot. The working holds was well done. I wish Muto would have sold his leg a biy better in the middle, because at the end his selling of the leg was great. That no touch rope dive toward the finish was awesome. I loved how Choshu kept going to his hold to finish Muto, plus it keeps Muto strong by taking it a few times to finish him.

[Kevin Ridge]

New Japan? It’s been ages since we saw you. Alright little match. Mutoh puts up a good fight but Riki is able to put him away in the end with the clothesline.

[Zenjo]

Decent contest that peaked down the stretch. Young Mutoh brought explosivity, but at times was sloppy and chose the wrong move. Choshu survived all his opponants offence before putting him away. It was a stern test. This had the feel of an important match.

[Cox]

The finishing sequence to end this was really good, with both men getting nearfalls until Choshu welcomes Mutoh back to New Japan by making him put over the booker. Really good match, possibly my favorite Japanese match of the set so far.

[TravJ1979]

Glad to see Mutoh have a great match. One of my all-time favs.

[garretta]

In the end, Choshu goes over, but I think this was a nice return showcase for Mutoh as well. I heard the announcers putting over his time in WCW, and it looks like they're really positioning him as a top player in New Japan going forward, as he refuses to tap out to Choshu's scorpion twice, and it takes three of Riki's most ferocious lariats to put him away. Choshu and others will definitely hear from Mutoh in 1990.

 

I loved seeing a bull like Choshu bust out planchas in order to try to beat Mutoh at his own game. I'd almost call it a tribute, in fact, since Mutoh had gone to America and done so well.

[drew wardlaw]

I can't remember any other new japan on the set so far. Anyway, the big complaint it looks like is Mutoh not selling the leg enough. Didn't bother me too much, as it seemed like the story was mat work vs wild brawling offense rather than based around the leg. I don't know, it's a fine line for me but it was sound enough not to take me out of the match. I'm always wary when I see a Mutoh match and I'm always looking to see if he's lazy or not. He worked hard here, fresh back from the USA, so I'm a fan. Good match.

[JKWebb]

Loss ranked this as #491 in his countdown: The Top 500 Matches of the 90's on PTBN.

 

placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-500-451/

 

I watched this at some point earlier this year while going through the yearbook. But, I didn't really remember much about it. I like the wild/fast pace it starts off with. It sucked me right in. The offense from both guys looked really explosive to start the match. The crowd was really into it. I liked the spot where Muto got himself out of the submission and popped up firing punches. He backed Choshu into the corner and started pounding on his head. Choshu was able to counter with a very powerful looking suplex and get back to the ground work. The left leg selling was fine for me. It didn't seem like Choshu had enough of a consistent attack on the left leg to warrant any long term selling of it. The nearfalls near the end were well-timed. I actually think a little more work on the left leg (which hopefully would have resulted in more selling from Muto) would have made the match even better. Especially with the length of time Choshu holds the sharpshooter on Muto towards the end. This was a fun match.

[ohtani's jacket]

Loss' #491 was a simple Choshu style match that was reasonably well executed. A lack of strikes and some dull matwork prevented it from being truly exciting and the finishing stretch was kind of predictable. Still, it accomplished what it set out to do, welcoming the returning Muto back into the fold and letting him know where he sat in the hierarchy.