Hiroshi Hase

[JerryvonKramer]

Watching Hase in that match against Muta and he knocked me out and made me think "there's no way this guy isn't one of the best of all time". Let's call it "the Jim Breaks effect". It is rare, but it's enough to make me explore.

Hiroshi Hase vs. Shinya Hashimoto (8/3/93)

Opening matwork seems pretty ho-hum to me, with Hash controlling. Match really picks up when Hase gets in an awesome chop block on Hash's shin. Love the way he just lies on the mat looking up as Hash falls down like a tree. Cool moment. Hase then goes to work laser-like on the leg. He seems to have proper Arn Anderson psychology and applies it consistently. Wears Hash down with a series of leglocks and figure fours, until Hash comes back with some heavy kicks and seems to have him dominated, but Hase gets in a flash pin after a suplex. Really excellently layed out match, very smartly worked. Probably could cut the first five minutes or so of matwork, but after that it's great. Very promising start for my Hase run.

****

Hiroshi Hase vs. Shinya Hashimoto (12/13/94)

I can see this early matwork business is going to be a running theme. It was alright, it didn't bore me and seemed like it had purpose and struggle. I do wonder if having that opening tens mins on the mat feels a bit token: has done in these two matches. I did enjoy Hash using his fist to bash in Hase's knee though at around the 15 minute mark and then Hase went into an Indian deathlock sequence that was quite compelling. Still twenty minutes of matwork is pretty mat heavy. There is a clear logic to it: Hase wants to keep Hash grounded so he can't utilise his kicking strength. And, to that end, the second ten minutes were more engaging than the first ten minutes.

Things start to get fun when they transition to the strikes. Some manly chops and I love Hash's face as he registers each of these slaps. He gets the better of it and levels Hase with a backbreaker. Bodyslam. Double stomp from the top rope right onto Hase's torso. Great selling from Hase. Hash dominates next few minutes. Hase comes back with a rock bottom and several huge chops. And a DDT from the top rope. And a swank suplex which I don't know the name of. Rear naked choke in the manner of Royce Gracie now. German suplex! Two only. Another cool suplex bridged back into a pin. Two only! DDT onto the back of the head by Hash cuts off this flurry.

Spin kick. Release fisherman suplex! And that's three. Very hot finishing stretch to this one. I think I preferred the 93 match overall. Just a bit too long on the matwork even though it got better over twenty minutes. Hase was still great here throughout, Hash I felt didn't seem to wake up until they started busting out the strikes. As if Hase was literally slapping him awake. Very good, but not great.

***3/4

Hiroshi Hase vs. Jun Akiyama (1/5/98)

Hase's tache is looking particularly awesome here. Interesting to see a NJ guy jump across to AJ at this time. This gets stiff early, which can only be a good thing. I really love Hase's character work. He's a real show man. I love it when he does something and looks pleased with himself. He is great at playing to the crowd. He has a little twinkle in his eye. Pretty rare quality in a Japanese worker.

There are a lot of face slaps in this match and a real sense that they are testing each other's metal. Crowd is super duper into it. The suplex exchange at around the 17-minute mark is amazing and lifted by that crowd reaction.

Lengthy mat section now but some cool moments especially when Hase appears to be doing press ups in a leglock! He's also constantly shouting and jawing at Akiyama and this is absolutely my idea of "compelling" work on the mat. I don't really give a shit about intricacies, what I really care about is the the will to win from both guys; and here it's very strong. Giant swing from Hase was awesome.

Several cool suplex variations from Hase now including a full Nelson suplex bridged into a pin. All of them two counts. Very exciting. Crowd is red red hot on Akiyama's comeback and Hase really feels like a significant foe that he's overcome. A vanquished force. Awesome match, awesome wrestler. Akiyama didn't look bad either, but in this humble reviewer's view, this was the Hase show.

****1/2

Hiroshi Hase vs. Kenta Kobahsi (8/26/97)

I'm taking it as a given that the first ten minutes of any and every Hase match is going to be worked on the mat, even if that's against Kobashi. But that's cool with me because his psychology is almost always on point, and every single one of these matches so far as built logically from matwork up through strikes to throws and a hot finish. To me, that's perfect match structure, it works as well as shine-heat-comeback-finish.

I really enjoy the ferocity and force with which Hase hits his opponent in the face as he's applying a hold. Like Flair's chops it's a form of psyche out, a mental as well as a physical test. Kobashi, of course, is more than happy to meet him strike for strike and chops as hard as the best of them. The stiffness levels are off the charts here. Both guys can dish it out.

Hase does the sort of submission work that a philistine like me can understand -- it's Arn Anderson-style limb focus done with a sense of intensity. I dig that type of work. It's also pretty cool to see him going into an environment like All Japan in 1997 and stubbornly working his own style.

The strike exchanges in this match are as good as any I can recall seeing: up there with Garvin vs. Flair or Wahoo vs. Flair. Just so much ... EPICNESS in every chop. Kobashi tried a giant swing but can't really do it. Hase does one of his cool suplexes and then gives the crowd that knowing nod. Here's the giant swing. "That's how you do it!"

Great moment now as Hase hits his flying body scissors into a leglock and he pulls on the same leg he's been focusing on all match: the left one. I can't think of a guy this side of Nick Bockwinkel who is so consistently logical in everything he does. Even the low dropkick escape Hase hits shortly after this, nailed the left thigh.

Scorpion deathlock now, and Kobashi is pretty great selling this. Comes back with a figure four which Hase reverses. Don't know why but that seems like a really American spot. Action goes outside. Kobashi goes for a powerbomb, but Hase forces himself forward almost in a Thesz Press position. Pretty cool counter. Missile dropkick two feet first from Hase now and back to the figure four. He's been targeting that left leg for over twenty minutes at this point. And consistently goes back to it. Kobashi reverses that now. Rope break.

Back to the strikes now. Shot gun by Kobashi, Bulldog by Hase. Tiger suplex by Hase. Gets a two. Chickenwing suplex (???!) by Kobashi now. Barely gets over for the cover and two. Hase goes back to attacking the left leg. Rock bottom. Two. DDT by Kobashi. Hase with a leg drop. Belly to back from the second rope. Another cool suplex into a bridge. Two! Goes to the top. Kobashi catches him for a Samoan drop from the top. Powerbomb. A second one. Two only! Very surprised Hase kicked out of that. Several chops to the back of his head now by Kobashi. Lariat-ooo! Yes, that'll do it.

Honestly, what more could you really want out of this match? Great psychology, great build and changing up through the gears, awesome strike exchanges, cool matwork, tremendous throws, super hot finish and a pumped crowd. Great match! I can think of worse ways of spending 35 minutes. From this sampling so far, it seems like Hase can do it all.

****1/2

Hiroshi Hase vs. Toshiaki Kawada (5/2/99)

Man, they both look so grizzled and battled hardened at the start of this. Neither of them have any front teeth! It's like they've both been through a world war or two. Kawada looks particularly knackered here. Pretty fun watching Hase run through the AJ greats.

We hit the mat early as per usual, Hase works Kawada's right arm some and bends the fingers back, a little Jim-Breaks-like. Switches focus of the left leg. Scorpion deathlock. I've noticed he doesn't use it like a finisher but more like an attritional hold a a la Choshu.

Kawada comes back with a series of kicks and hits a powerbomb. Two only. Two more drop kicks sends Hase down again. There's something not quite happening about this match. Kawada just doesn't seem interested AT ALL and this is the only Hase match I've watched in this sitting where the crowd seem a little tuned out too. Weird.

Hase goes back to that right arm and drops down on the wrist in a very cool spot. He wakes up the crowd with his big swing now. Well, in fairness, if Kawada is going to sleepwalk his way through this match, why not pull out a "go to" spot the crowd always pops for? Ric Flair would approve I'm sure.

German suplex by Hase gets two. He almost decapitates Kawada now with another suplex, possibly a slight botch? Cover gets ... Only one. Kawada is dazed though and goes over into the corner. What the hell is up with him this match? Kick in the face by Hase. Northern lights suplex gets two. Kawada with kicks now. Powerbomb. Holy shit, brainbuster and he dropped it right on the head. Yip, that'll do it for three. Sick finish!

Well, this was disappointing. Kawada really dogged it here, like he didn't care about this match at all. Hase was trying to bring it, he focused on the right arm, he innovated some cool offense around that, he hit his signature spots, he was trying to do all he could to bring something out of Kawada, but Dangerous K was half asleep. I'm actually wondering if he was recovering from a hang over or if he didn't get a good night's sleep or something because he looks rough as hell at the start of this match and just isn't at the race. Still, Hase vs. a half-asleep Kawada is still a pretty good match, but this might have been a classic in other circumstances.

***

Hiroshi Hase vs. Genichiro Tenryu (9/23/93)

Tenryu still in his Revolution gear. 9/23/93 was my 11th birthday by the way. We get an early giant swing here. Tenryu looks a bit chubbier than usual here for some reason. Still a surly bastard though, obviously. Seems a lot older in 93 than he did in 92.

This has been a departure from the other matches, feels like they are working Tenryu's match rather than Hase's. And Tenryu has dominated a lot of the offense with Hase bumping around for him. Seems a lot more like a control sequence, with less back and forth.

Now we settle into the leglock, face slapping, scorpion. I've just noticed Hase still has all his teeth in 1993. Hase gets Tenryu in the corner and gives him a lot of chops. I love the way he constantly jaws and taunts and goads his opponent. The mental test as well as the physical test. Tenryu eventually snaps and turns it around to dish out some Wahoo chops of his own.

Some suplex and throw exchanges now. And, oh, Hase ... Submitted? To that?! What was it even? Double Chickenwing on the floor? Weird and abrupt finish.

I thought this was a little disappointing but can't put my finger on why. These two didn't quite click. I thought Tenryu's poor execution was glaring at times in this match, there's one point where he does a sunset flip counter that is so bad that Hase actively has to move himself back into position for it. Very awkward. Tenryu tends to be forgiven that sort of thing, but there were moments (like that one) where it almost felt like he was being carried. Hase did a lot of the heavy lifting here.

This was better than the Kawada match, but I thought the structure was a bit strange. They deviated from the standard Hase template: Tenryu dominated early, and then they sort of went into the "early matwork" about 8 minutes in after Tenryu had kicked Hase's ass all around the ring. And then as the match really seems to get going, it ends. Good, but might have been better considering who was involved.

***1/2

92 Muta match for posterity:

The Great Muta vs. Hiroshi Hase (12/14/92)
I put the call out on Twitter for all time juice jobs after watching that last one and this was the one that people came back with in less than two minutes. Very fast paced to start. Gutbuster by Hase. Throws Muta on the top rope so he lands on his stomach. Switches focus to the arm. Muta comes back with flash. Exceptional action.

Muta takes over with an Indian deathlock which he falls back on. Shades of Dory Jr. Bridges back into an STF of sorts. But loses position to Hases who applies a sort of chinlock. Stomps on the face by Hase look nasty. Swivel on nose. Rick Rude neckbreaker. Hase lays down posing in the ring as Muta regroups. I think I'm falling in love with Hase as I watch this match, he's simply been awesome so far. Cool suplex by him now. Muta comes back with chops. Action goes outside. Back in. Chop from the top by Muta.

Back outside. Bulldog onto the exposed concrete by Muta. Ouch. Snapmare. Elbow drop, Muta does such a cool elbow drop. Drops Hase hamstrings first onto the top rope. And again onto the railings. Loving Muta's aggression here. It's like "this is payback bitch".

Back in and Hase comes back with a superplex. German gets a two. He's still selling the leg. Rakes Muta's face across the ropes. And again. Absolutely loving Hase's heeling during his match. Misses a dropkick. Muta throws a chair into the ring. Backbreaker, gets caught going for a moonsault. Muta throws another chair into the ring and then grabs the wrench for tightening the turnbuckle. Hase manages to get it though. Muta is cut. And his blood is pouring out of his face. Hase bites the cut and then actually spits some of the blood out. Absolutely gross, and amazing heel work from him yet again.

Piledriver right onto the cut by Hase and you can see the blood pouring from the top of the head. Guillotine by Hase. Sleeper. His psychology has been absolutely perfect during this match. Muta is covered in blood. Hase has Muta's blood all over his arm. Stomp in the face. Scorpion deathlock. Muta is wearing one of the most complete Crimson masks here.

Hase such a prick taunting him. Stiff slaps. Belly to back suplex lands with a splat of blood. And another one. Roar from Muta pops the crowd. Another suplex. And another one. And another one. Suplex city bitch. Goes for the moonsault. Misses! Christ this blood is ridiculous. Powerbomb by Hase gets two only. Muta is close to passing out through blood loss. Hase is STILL selling that leg from the hamstring spots earlier. Back suplex by Muta gets two. He's losing his shit now. Tiger suplex gets two only! Holy shit, I popped. Backbreaker. Moonsault! Yes!

Absolutely fucking phenomenal. Stone cold classic and one of the best matches I've ever seen. Even beyond the blood, the work is just so on point. Psychology, execution, selling, character work, crowd control, this match has everything. I bet people only talk about the blood. Even if there was no blood this would have been five star for me.

*****

----

My impression of Hase so far is that he's like an ultimate Chris Jericho. That is, never quite the top guy, but could slot in against a top main eventer whenever the occasion asked for it and would deliver a good or even great match. I think he has literally everything: great psychology, great on the mat, great strikes, great suplexes, great character work, and really really sound and logical match structure. There is absolutely nothing not to like about Hase. Looking forward to more soon. But it is 5:30am and I've been summoned to bed three times already ...

[Childs]

You should check out his '80s stuff too. He was good from the start. He's in six or seven matches on the DVDVR set.

[GOTNW]

 

Opening matwork seems pretty ho-hum to me, with Hash controlling. Match really picks up when Hase gets in an awesome chop block on Hash's shin. Love the way he just lies on the mat looking up as Hash falls down like a tree. Cool moment. Hase then goes to work laser-like on the leg. He seems to have proper Arn Anderson psychology and applies it consistently. Wears Hash down with a series of leglocks and figure fours, until Hash comes back with some heavy kicks and seems to have him dominated, but Hase gets in a flash pin after a suplex. Really excellently layed out match, very smartly worked. Probably could cut the first five minutes or so of matwork, but after that it's great. Very promising start for my Hase run.

Yeah this is really undermining the greatness of this underrated gem. The opening matwork lasted about two minutes and then Hase took Hashimoto down and they started progressing with the match. Hase's greatest weapon is his amateur background so taking Hashimoto down and wearing down his leg to neutralize Hashimoto's greatest weapon (kicks) is a sound strategy. Hashimoto may not posess Hase's technique but he is no slouch on the mat himself and can power out of Hase's holds. And interestingly, Hashimoto's offencive choices on the mat also include various leglocks to neutralize Hase's takedowns and limbworks. There is clearly double legwork going on-I trusted my memory because it's one of the matches I best remember but it's also pretty clear going back and FFing through it as you see them both acknowledging it in their selling. Then you get an all time great Hase FIP section too but you liked that so w/e. Crowd really put over the importance and significance of the upset as well.

 

[WingedEagle]

Couldn't agree more with your point his playing to the crowd and overall charisma. Very unique for Japanese workers and while I can't quite put my finger on just what he does, it absolutely stands out. A few others I'd check out:

 

w/ Muto vs. Vader & Bigelow (5/1/92)

vs. Kensuke Sasaki 6/26/92

vs. Chono (8/6/93)

w/ Muto vs. Chono & Hashimoto (11/4/93)

 

I'm picking up the 80s set soon and very much looking forward to him there. For whatever reason I always thought he had a rep as a sound, technically proficient wrestler who was capable of decent output with a variety of opponents but at the same time was rather vanilla. The man is anything but vanilla. Oozing personality.

[Microstatistics]

vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (8/8/1993) is a good match too.

[JerryvonKramer]

Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki vs. Keiji Muto and Masa Chono (11/1/90)

 

More Hase vs. Musketeers here. I'll be watching some of this tag run tonight. Here him and Sasaki -- who has awful hair -- are clear underdogs against the reigning champs. 1/10 on the Hase tache rating here. He needed to work on that more in 1990. I've always thought that Chono LOOKS cool.

 

Sasaki is a bit like a Japanese Steiner brother in my mind. I think because I do love that match from the New Japan supershow which is a total spotfest slice of heaven and that's where I first saw him. This is worked a little more on the mat than that one, although it's still pretty bomb heavy and at 15 minutes, is basically an all-action sprint.

 

Mutoh is particularly vicious in the finishing stretch, nails a nasty bulldog on Hase. But they get the upset win and a nice moment after a bridging belly-to-belly from Hase. About on par with those Steiners tags I'm such a fan of and my standard rating for them ...

 

****1/2

 

Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki vs. Shiro Koshinaka and Takayuki Iizuka (12/13/90)

 

Speaking of the Steiners, Iizuka is he of head getting kicked in by them fame. We just saw Hase / Sasaki as underdogs, let's see how they are as the senior team and defending champs. I am also delighted: Hase has sorted that tache out since winning the belts!

 

Hase seems to be cocky as hell now. So much of that natural charisma I've been talking about. They soon isolate Iizuka and Hase hits his giant swing and Rick Rude neckbreaker after a double suplex. Koshinaka in now and he manages to suplex Hase to the outside, big bump. I think Hase is pretty much a "super worker", kind of like a Steamboat in terms of athletic ability and workrate. Sasaki has to bail him out a few times as the challengers focus on his leg. Some very good selling from Hase throughout all of this. He's very expressive.

 

Kicks Iizuka clean in the face to escape. Sasaki comes in and decks Iizuka now. Man, that kid was just made to be beaten up wasn't he! Hase is all cocky and heelish again. Both he and Sasaki are real dicks during this stretch dominating the youngster. Sasaki gets him in a scorpion and Iizuka is screaming with pain. They take turns stomping on his back. Brutal and awesome work!

 

Boston crab from Hase now on the injured back. I fucking love heels dishing out punishment like this. Iizuka manages to get the hot tag though and Koshinka comes in with his super butt attacks. Hits a power bomb, but Sasaki breaks up the pin. Double drop kicks ahoy. Fisherman suplex by Iizuka gets two, after Hase makes a nonchalant save by sweeping his leg. Have to say Iizuka as the plucky young babyface against the odds has been great here.

 

Sasaki catches Koshinka with a superplex and Hase goes for a German, but Koshinka reverses it into a full Nelson suplex. Two only! Very very hot nearfall! I popped. Another cover gets two only. Iizuka did a massive dive over the top rope during all of that too.

 

Eventually Sasaki hits a running powerslam on Iizuka. And a sick sick armdrag for three.

 

Absolutely fucking phenomenal match and one of the best Southern-tag-style matches I've ever seen. I'd put it on par with Furnas and Kroffat vs. Kobashi and Kickuchi (5/25/92) and Enforcers vs. Dustin / Steamboat from Clash 17 (11/19/91). Iizuka's FIP performance is right up there with either Kikuchi's or Steamboat's and Hase and Sasaki really being the offensive goods here. They also do well in the match structure to limit Koshinka's offense so that when he does hit his butt attacks, it means something. They basically work around him like the Midnight Express or DiBiase and Borne would work around JYD. Only, obviously, Koshinka has more ability than JYD. Great match and the second Hase match that looks likely to make the next iteration of my top 100 matches. Iizuka has to go on the shortlist of "greatest FIP workers ever". I'd love to know what Loss makes of this one. Didn't seem to be on yearbook.

 

****3/4

 

Hiroshi Hase vs. Kensuke Sasake (6/26/92)

 

"Former tag team partners Big Boss Man and Akeem now have to face each other!" I don't know why but that call by Monsoon from Wrestlemania 6 is burned deep into my memory and I think of it whenever former tag partners have to face each other.

 

Really intense stuff on the mat to start. Shades of Robinson vs. Bock with the sense of struggle. Hase pounds on the back of Sasaki's head while applying the waist lock from behind. It's the sort of matwork I enjoy. Sasaki comes back with the Royce Gracie style rear naked choke that seemed to be popular in New Japan at this time. He works it with some vigour and Hase's selling is top notch.

 

Strikes now and Hase hits about 7 or 8 headbutts. This is really heated work. Sasaki is actually busted open after the headbutts. He comes back with a series of throws and a powerbomb. Back to the rear naked choke. A really gritty sense of intensity in this match. It is high drama.

 

Hase replies with a desperation suplex. Three of those gnarly rock bottom suplex things in a row now. Four. Five. Ref checks on Sasaki. Hase is looking confident. Northern lights suplex! And that's all she wrote. Post-match he gets on the mic and taunts Sasaki. Masa Saito is on commentary!

 

Terrific and heated matchup with a lot of intensity and drama. My only criticism is that it doesn't quite go long enough to "earn" the sense of having been in a total war that they are trying to sell after 12-3 minutes. It needed longer to tell that story. It's one of my gripes with modern WWE main event style, they try to sell epic when we haven't had epic. But aside from that, this is still a great match. And another feather in Hase's cap, which at this point has a fine ... Plumage. At this point, I feel I can say without much hesitation that I think Hase is a better wrestler than Akira Taue. So it will be interesting for sure to see where he will finish for me in the GWE 100.

 

****1/2

[JerryvonKramer]

Hiroshi Hase and Keiji Mutoh vs. Vader and Bam Bam Bigelow (3/1/92)

 

If this is any good it will help flesh out that "variety" category. A lot of beef on TEAM BEEF here. I have some slight worries about Bigelow bringing this down, and ... well, what sort of mood is Mutoh going to be in? It's those two who start out and Bam Bam with some decent crowd interaction. He also dives over the top rope to splash Mutoh.

 

Vader vs. Hase now. Massive back suplex and fourteen (!!!) headbutts from Vader now. Trademark corner offense. Lariat. Splash. Hase comes back shouting shit at Vader with slaps. He's actually shouting "son of a bitch!" at him over and over again. Ha ha! With such amazing charisma, maybe Hase could think about a career more squarely in the public eye ...

 

Vader slam. Bam Bam comes in. Headbutt. But Hase manages to take over offense and targets the right leg. Sound strategy to keep the big man grounded. Double Indian deathlock -- Funks bros spot. But Bigelow comes back with a suplex on Mutoh and we go to a chinlock. DDT seems to impale Mutoh's head into the canvas. Double suplex on Bam Bam now.

 

Vader back in and he's dominating Hase again. Clothesline. Powerbomb. Two only. Bigelow in and again loses the advantage. Mutoh actually gets a backdrop on him at one point which is impressive looking. I'm a little surprised by just how much Bigelow is working as "junior partner" here, he's been the weak link a lot. It's almost like watching a Russians tag where Uncle Ivan consistently loses advantage whenever he's in.

 

Vader in and powerbombs Mutoh. Splash. A certain symmetry to the match, this was Hase ten minutes ago. Vader goes to the top rope, and lands a move. Cover gets two only. Clothesline. Bigelow goes to the top now. Flying headbutt. Cover gets two only. Inzaguri by Bigelow, two only. He's a big man to be doing those spots. Hase is very vocal on the apron. He's a real US-style worker in many ways, I think he would have gotten over in the US. He seems like he grew up watching American wrestling.

 

Mutoh has taken a real pounding here. Vader back in delivering the blows. Mutoh comes back with some fighting spirit. Hits a back suplex on Vader. Missile dropkick. German! A German on Vader! Hase in with his rock bottom suplex thing. Cover gets ... Oooh it was close, a two only. Stereo splashes on Mutoh now. Surely that's three? No! Two only.

 

Backslide by Mutoh! Two only. There's been a lot of false finish spam in this one. But they have been effective ones. But then Vader gets a chokeslam, on Mutoh for three.

 

I did not much enjoy this match. Vader seemed pretty short of ideas by the second half and for the amount of punishment the two beats dished out, it didn't seem to have much lasting impact on either Hase or Mutoh. I mean the powerbomb was treated almost like a transitional move at times. Hase really faded out of this match, he never got to tag in again and was stranded on the apron for the last 15 minutes seemingly. The finishing stretch had some hot nearfalls, but a few too many of them for my tastes. 90s New Japan feels like the forerunner to modern WWE main event style in that respect. There's more of a self-conscious sense of drama to the action than what we see in All Japan. This whole match didn't make a lot of sense to me. The offense of the big men lacked lasting impact, who bumped around a bit too readily themselves at times too. I don't really know if a match featuring Vader and Bam Bam Bigelow should be going 28 minutes.

 

**1/2

 

Hiroshi Hase and Keiji Mutoh vs. Vader and Bam Bam Bigelow (5/1/92)

 

So expectations have been set low for this. Things can only get better I suppose. Hase is going into it with his head bandaged. I sense blood is coming. Bigelow is looking smug. Incidentally, I am in the camp that thinks Great Muta = cool, Keiji Mutoh = gimp. I mean even his cool elbow drops look a tiny bit lamer when he's not in the gimmick.

 

Hase locks up with Vader, who is not wearing his mask today. Brutal short arm clothesline from him. He tries a second and Hase counters into an arm hold. Cool spot. Punches in the corner and Hase is still shouting. I love this "fuck you I'm not taking this lying down" stuff from Hase and it is more heated somehow here than the "son of a bitch" stuff in the previous match which had a more comedic feel. Two clotheslines send Vader down. Belly to belly from Hase. Cover gets two. Full arm drag and twist. Mutoh in with the springboard elbow.

 

Bam Bam in. Takes a tumble to the outside. Hase back in. Bigelow cuts off kicks with a headbutt. DDT by Bigelow. Back and forth a bit. Mutoh nails a German. Two only. Hase back in and working on Vader's arm.

 

Now Bigelow rips off Hase's bandage and he has a lot of blood. Man that's a deep cut. Nasty work too pressing down on it by Bigelow. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker from him (wow). Vader in with a powerbomb. Flying headbutt from the top by Bigelow. Hase is taking a beating here.

 

Bam Bam bites the cut now. He has Hase's blood on his face and mouth. Gross. Hase like a madman comes back with some headbutts. Pretty long finishing stretch during which Hase actually hits the Northern Lights suplex in Vader, and during which Bigelow reverses a double suplex attempt. Both cool spots.

 

This was a dramatic improvement over the previous bout and a tremendous FIP performance from Hase who did everything he could to hold this match together. Superb selling, superb fighting spirit hope spots, just an all round great performance from him. Has the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. I think the finishing stretch lost direction at times and could have been cut down another five minutes maybe. This is probably Bigelow's career match I'd have thought and as good as a Monsters vs. Plucky faces tag as you'll find. The blood helps too. Another great match and performance for the Hase resume.

 

****

[Robert S]

(...)

Hiroshima Hase vs. Kensuke Sasake (6/26/92)

(...)

funny typo (or auto-correct)

[ohtani's jacket]

Hiroshi Hase vs Ricky Fuyuki (6/17/93)

 

The early part of this reminded me of things I don't like about Hase such as the way he'd dance while he had someone in a hold, or clap his hands and point to the crowd. That sort of thing is a lot more fun when someone like Kyoko Inoue does it. Hase has never struck me as anything more than adequate on the mat and the kind of guy who'd rather do gymnastics on the mat than actually wrestle. I always find that disappointing since he went to the Olympics as an amateur, but it's part of his charm and charisma that I just don't get. The idea here was that the bigger Fuyuki was looking to bulldoze Hase, but aside from his size, there really wasn't much Fuyuki could do to hurt Hase. Hase, who's never been that convincing seller to begin with, pretty much had to oversell how much jeopardy he was in. Fuyuki had a nice german but not a lot of stuff that could truly put Hase away, and although the crowd got into the stretch run, Hase had way bigger stuff in his holster. Yeah, the point was to work a competitive midcard bout, but matches like this always kind of bother me when the stakes don't match the fight. And without trying to pick on the guy, could his angry shouts be any less guttural? I will endeavor to say something nice about him, though. He had a truly beautiful Northern Lights suplex. That throw was a thing of beautiful. Match plodded along, but the crowd propped it up.

[ohtani's jacket]

Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Chono (11/4/93)

 

This was good stuff. The first couple of times I watched it I thought it was like reading a Silver Age Justice League comic compared to All Japan's Fantastic Four in that it was polished by lacked the dynamic layout of Kirby's artwork and the depth of Lee's storytelling. But for a match that featured only one guy I like, the other three did a bang up job of keeping me hooked. All of the exchanges between Hashimoto and Hase were great and reminded me of how good their singles matches were. Hashimoto brought out the best in Hase (from where I'm sitting at least), but I also enjoyed the Hase/Chono exchanges here more than I ever dreamed I would. I especially liked the early exchange where Hase was scurrying to escape Chono's attacks like a crab on its back. Chono vs. Muto is a match-up that's never appealed to me, but the brand of wrestling they plied was smooth and well executed, and didn't look out of place alongside the Hashimoto and Hase exchanges. They flirted with the tag wrestling tropes that were popular in All Japan and Joshi at the time, but didn't lay it on as thick. I think you could argue that there was a double FIP segment with Hase then Muto, but it didn't really last as long as a FIP segment does and wasn't nearly as pronounced. Part of that was because Hase's selling on the outside was kind of lousy, but the tempo was also somewhere between the slow burning/big pay-off All Japan style and the ultra fast Joshi style, and Hase was more ura-nage happy at the end than near death. That was okay, though. While it didn't have the depth of an All Japan tag, or the emotion of a Joshi bout, it was entertaining and swashbuckling in a sense (and I do mean that as a pun.) The finish had a kick to it and reminded me of a catch and shoot buzzer beater, and I guess you could buy into the psychology of former rivals linking up to take home the big prize if you wanted to psycho-analyse the bout. Can't say Hase looked like any more of a world-beater but it was a lot of fun.

[ohtani's jacket]

Hiroshi Hase vs. Kensuke Sasaki (6/26/92)

 

This had the best lock-up I've seen in ages. I liked all of the early jostling for position and the nastiness that crept in with the stomps to the head and Hase responding with forearms and headbutts. I've always kind of ignored Sasaki as a worker and have no idea how good he was regularly around this time period, but he came across as a powerful man who could really lift a guy. Once again I didn't think much of Hase's selling in this and after Sasaki bled the bout became less interesting to me. Hase was higher on the pecking order than Sasaki and set about putting the bigger guy in his place, but the consecutive ura-nages felt like overkill in a Kurt Angle/Chris Benoit vein even if he did stomp the proverbial mudhole in him.

[Grimmas]

Damn, now I have to go and watch a bunch of Hase, eh?

[ohtani's jacket]

Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki vs. Shiro Koshinaka and Takayuki Iizuka (12/13/90)

 

This was a decent match which finished stronger than it started (always preferable.) It never reached any great heights but settled into a nice groove. I preferred Sasaki and Iizuka in their roles compared to Hase and Koshinaka, but the younger guys were set up to be the workhorses and benefit from that experience. Still, i expected a bit more sizzle when the veterans tagged in. Hase's swagger was alright, but his work wasn't anything special. Sasaki impressed me more, which is interesting. He was kind of a one-dimensional power wrestler, and seemed like a bit of a jock, but I'll be damned if he didn't hit people hard and that judo throw of his (the arm drag finisher) looked like it should have separated dude's shoulders. Watching Hase call the shots, it seemed clear that Sasaki needed to be led by the nose in more than just kayfabe terms, but I thought he was responsible for the best parts of the bout. Iizuka was also really good, though it was clear he was there to knuckle down and receive an education and wasn't a strong worker yet. He could have used a better general than Koshinaka, but a promotion has got to make use of its resources. The one thing you can be guaranteed in Japanese tags is a typically well laid out finish and this was no exception. The match didn't outstay its welcome by being 40 minutes long and was a tidy three to three-and-a-half stars or so.

[JerryvonKramer]

It's fair to say we look for different things cos I thought that match fucking ruled with an iron fist.

[ohtani's jacket]

Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroshi Hase (12/11/92)

 

Watching these two is a bit like watching Chono vs. Muto in that no matter how technically proficient their matches are, I just don't care about them. The only thing I'll say about Hase's work here is that I thought his selling was crap. Watch the finishing sequence where both of them are trying to hit the killer blow and Hase does his poor man punch drunk selling on defense then hits a ura nage and double fist pumps. He does the same sequence over and over -- punch drunk then double fist pumping. The thing is, his selling is like that in every match. He'll sell his opponent's offense and a beat later he's appealing to the crowd. To me, the notion that he's a great seller is completely false and it just seems like there's been so many better workers in Japanese history than Hase.

[ohtani's jacket]

Hiroshi Hase vs. Ricky Fuyuki (9/12/93)

 

This was joined in progress. Hase was wearing a large bandage on his forehead, so of course Fuyuki tore it off. Hase bled as soon as it was torn off, and what a sickening bladejob it was. Blood was pooling on the mat and his face and body were covered in it. It was all over his tights and knee-pads, and all over Fuyuki as well. Slow, methodical beatdown as you'd expect from a bout where one guy's split open. Fuyuki taunted Hase with a Rick Rude swivel, which the commentators amusing called "American style." Match was well paced for a bout of this ilk, and Hase sold well. Didn't love the Giant Swing or Hase prancing about trying to get his adrenaline flowing, but his comeback was believable and he managed to rally without abusing the ura nage. That scored extra points in my book. Worth the price of admission so long as you realise it's the wrestling equivalent of a one act play.

[ohtani's jacket]

Hiroshi Hase vs. Riki Choshu (5/1/94)

 

This started off with a hiss and a roar when Hase slapped Choshu during the first tie-up and Choshu responded with a violent flurry of headbutts and stomps. The commentator mentioned it was a senpai vs. kohai match, and I thought this could be really good as few wrestlers match the intensity that Choshu brings to the ring. But then Hase took over with a long control segment where he went though his signature spots one by one without any of them seeming like high spots. Choshu got more mileage out of a backdrop suplex than Hase managed with his entire arsenal. Granted, it was a flaky dome show match, but a minimalistic masterpiece would have been so much better. Choshu took back control of the bout, and it was fairly predictable from there as he swatted Hase aside.

 

Not the sort of bout I'd hold against Hase since dome show matches trip everyone up, but there wasn't a lot to like about the way he laid it out, and the contrast in intensity between the two workers was stark. And that was with Hase absolutely trying to eyeball Choshu and step up to his level.

[ohtani's jacket]

Hiroshi Hase vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (8/8/93)

 

This was a chance to Hase against a guy who could actually wrestle, and a chance to see a bit more of Hase's mat game, which is something that is sorely lacking from a lot of his bouts. Hase's work on the mat isn't that good, but he has nice takedowns befitting of his amateur background. Fujiwara is just a pleasure to watch. The contrast between this and the Choshu match was interesting since here Fujiwara had a counter for every signature spot that Hase tried, which turned the bout into a tremendous defensive scrap. There were at least two awesome Fujiwara counters in this, some tremendous work out of the corner when Fujiwara bled hardway, and some fantastic strike exchanges instead of the usual signature shit. Only went 15 mins or so, but they did a good job of going that long. Didn't leave you feeling short-changed at all. Struck me as one of the better complementary bouts to Hase's best stuff.

 

One thing I'll say for Hase is that he was a versatile worker. I'm not sold on the idea that he was a great one but from this sample along he's worked the classic Japanese tag style, sprints, mat contests, dome show bouts, brawls and beatdowns.

[ohtani's jacket]

Hiroshi Hase vs. Shiro Koshinaka (8/5/94)

 

Couldn't fault the effort here. Both guys put in huge shifts and made a big effort to build this from the ground up. There was a long opening mat exchange that spilled over into some testy and heated moments, a clear through line with a logical sense of progression, the right amount of escalation to the moves they were using, and an epic-minded finishing stretch reminiscent of the All Japan boys. It wasn't always smooth, but you were never left without a clear idea of what they were trying to do, and I think if you like Hase you'd enjoy this bout. His selling down the stretch was particularly good.

 

EDIT: Just saw this match got shat all over in the Yearbook thread. Weird.

[ohtani's jacket]

Hiroshi Hase vs. Takashi Iizuka (8/6/94)

 

Wow, Iizuka had turned into a shoot stylist here. He was like a proto version of Shibata. Easily the best matwork I've seen Hase do. If he worked this way all the time, he'd be one of my all-time faves. There was giant swing spot that didn't make a damn lick of sense and was a real "what the fuck are ya doing?" moment from Hase, but aside from that it was a kick ass quasi shoot style match before shoot style elements began in vogue in New Japan. This match told me a lot about Hase. It seems like he had all the tools to be the sort of worker I like but went in a different direction. Being a worker I like isn't a very important thing so I don't begrudge him there, but watching this helped me realise he had skills that were perhaps under-utilized, and I'm not prepared to view him as a talented dude.

 

Hiroshi Hase vs. Masahiro Chono (8/6/93)

 

This was exactly what I'd expect from Hase vs. Chono, and I mean that in a positive sense. It went from being solid to being one of the best Hase matches I've seen in the span of half an hour. The other day I praised the Koshinaka match for the effort they displayed, but the difference here was that I thought this was legitimately great, and I can see why people were frustrated from one G1 to the next. Has the worm turned on how I feel about Hase? Stay tuned true believers and find out! The turning point for me here was when Hase took off his boot and pad and threw them away. That could have been a good visual but a stupid long-term spot. Instead, it seemed to kick start a killer stretch run that felt like it had a horn section accompanying it. I mean I was rooting for Hase and I never thought that would happen. I liked the Hase vs. Chono sections in that '93 tag league semi and this was part vindication that their match-up holds up and part "fuck it, these are two workers I don't really knocking my socks off." The detail work seemed particularly good here and there didn't seem to be any generic pro-wrestling topes. Maybe I'm overly surprised that I liked this, but it delivered in spades.

[ohtani's jacket]

Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki vs. Keiji Muto and Masa Chono (11/1/90)

 

This a solid bout. I think I've conditioned myself toward liking this stuff. I actually have a theory that if you watch enough of someone over a prolonged period that you can condition yourself toward tolerating if not liking them. Everybody seemed fresh-faced here. Hase's individual exchanges with Muto and Chono were good and I didn't notice any faults in their work. It felt like a borderline sprint to me and I think the sprinting style helps these workers. The bout may feel slight compared to what Misawa and Kawada were able to produce with Jumbo and Taue in the same year; but just as I'm sympathetic to the Joshi mindset of pushing the tempo, I think working a slowburning style here would have exposed these guys in the eyes of the wrestling world. The finish was the ultimate video game finish before video game finishes became the norm in Japan. I'm too lazy to check whether this was booked by Choshu, but it had his fingerprints all over it.

[ohtani's jacket]

Hiroshi Hase vs. Great Muta (12/14/92)

 

This was one of the first tapes I bought when I got into Japanese wrestling. I haven't watched this match in fifteen or sixteen years. That should provide a barometer for how cynical and jaded I've become. When I first saw this I was like a kid in a candy store. The first "puroresu" tapes for a WWF/WCW fan in the late 90s/early 00s were like being a kid and discovering there were specialty comic stores. Back then I'd only seen the WWF PPV matches that were considered four stars by the smark community and Muta/Hase was like an older kid introducing you to something kids your age hadn't cottoned onto. I'm not sure if youtubers who watch this today realise what the "Muta scale" meant to know-nothings like me a century ago. Anyway,re long story short, mechanically I've liked plenty of Hase matches better, but from the bladejob onward I remembered why this was such a gateway bout. I wouldn't rank it among Hase's best, but I wouldn't blame anyone else if they did.

[ohtani's jacket]

Hiroshi Hase vs. Great Muta (9/14/90)

 

Probably should have watched these the other way round, but I thought the body of the '90 bout was much more solid than the Muta bloodbath. The way they transitioned from the early back and forth stuff through to the beatdown, bladejob and comeback was smooth. It was missing a strong finish to cap things off, but other than that there weren't many false notes. The finish at least had some interesting imagery w/ Muta leaving a stretcher for Hase. For a guy who didn't blade that often, Hase sure did make his gigging memorable. I don't know how often his name comes up in the conversation re: best bleeders of all-time, but he's an honourable mention. His selling was good here as well, which of course it really had to be.

[ohtani's jacket]

Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki vs. Riki Choshu and Shinya Hashimoto (10/11/92)

 

Dull bout. There was more of a focus on Sasaki than Hase, but I was hoping for some good stuff between Hase and Hashimoto and didn't really get any. The Hashimoto/Choshu tag team wasn't as compelling as you'd expect, either.

 

Shinya Hashimoto and Hiroshi Hase vs. Tatsumi Fujinami and Kensuke Sasaki (7/31/92)

 

I liked this a lot. The strike exchanges between Hashimoto and Fujinami I thought were exciting and another example of older Fujinami looking good. Again, there wasn't much of focus on Hase here, but I liked all of the match-ups and I thought it built to nice crescendo. It was the type of match which really only serves to set the table for bigger things later on in the tour, but effective in that respect. People said it was too long in the Yearbook thread, but it was all right with me.

 

Hiroshi Hase and Keji Mutoh vs. Vader and Bam Bam Bigelow (5/1/92)

 

This was a great match and another of those memorable bladejobs from Hase. I haven't watched a Vader match in ages, maybe not since I went through his Otto Wanz stuff (which I love.) I'm not the biggest fan of the match layouts in a lot of Vader's stuff and this was almost close to the sort of stuff I mean with the match layout being really transparent and obvious, but Hase put in probably one of the best performances of his career and I dug everything he did with Vader. Mutoh and Bigelow were noticeably worse than their partners, though Bigelow took some bumps that were integral to the match. This may be the only time I've really dug Hase's ura nage. His over-reliance on that throw always kind of bugs me, but here it felt necessary. I mean what else was he gonna take Vader down with? I even dug the cutesy finishing stretch. Would definitely make my top handful of Hase bouts.

 

One interesting thing about going through this stuff is that I've generally found myself agreeing with Meltzer's star ratings. He seems pretty spot on when it comes to New Japan during his era.

[JerryvonKramer]

Hiroshi Hase vs. Masa Chono (12/11/92)

 

Unlike OJ and more like shoe and Winged Eagle in Yearbook comments, I thought this was a very good or even excellent match. I guess with being NWA Champ, Chono had been watching Harley Race matches because he worked as weak as a kitten here, making the finish pretty staggering. This is one of the more one-sided competitive matches you will see for that reason. I like this one because Hase got to show off his offensive arsenal and Chono rag-dolled for him, and Hase is very consistent in keeping his offense targeted on specific bodyparts (a lot of neck damage in this one, and we got to see some pile-drivers, which I'm surprised Chono was willing to give and take after the Austin one). I did not notice anything particularly egregious in Hase's selling. He was on top for most of the match, and did continue selling his leg down the finishing run until his fist pumps which are his version of Hulking up I suppose. Some cool bombs thrown in this one. ***3/4

 

Hiroshi Hase vs. Masa Chono (8/6/93)

 

I loved Hase's assault on the neck in this match. DR Ackerman described the work as "aimless", what the fuck match was he watching? Sick piledriver worthy of Backlund, stomp and elbow on the back of the neck hit with conviction and authority, Stonecold Stunner (in 1992), swinging neckbreaker, reverse chinlock. How anyone can call that "aimless" is absolutely beyond me and I'll call that out because it's a puzzling criticism that I'd love to hear him explain.

 

Hiroshi Hase is playing himself right off my GWE list with these G1 matches. They're just not THAT good. Overly long, repetitive and awkward. Why am I watching Hase do neckbreakers for an extended period of time? Where is this going?

It seems simple to me: Hase wants to win a wrestling match, and he wants to do that by hurting his opponent enough to pin him. And with the piledriver he hurt Chono's neck which has a history of being injured since he injured it in September of 1992 after taking a piledriver from Austin. And so where is it going? Basic psychology.

 

Just ABC logic, follow up hurt neck with ... Move that targets neck. And then another one. And then another. Aimless my arse. Forgive the rant, but I'm not having that. And why does it need to go so long? Chono is meant to be a world class wrestler so he's going to take some putting away. I struggle to understand that post by Ackerman, and was absolutely shocked to read that someone wrote that about THIS match. Hase is also NOT repetitive in this match. He pulls out tons of moves you don't typically see him do. He even did the Bossman jump onto the second rope.

 

Chono has much more time on top in this match and I dug his assault on Hase's injured ankle, although the weird goat noises he made throughout are ... Weird and pretty annoying. But sound psychology again, series of leg holds, shinbreaker. It's very solid stuff, although I will note that Chono's execution was sloppy on occasion both here and in the last match.

 

Hase continues to sell that leg during his next offensive portion. And goes right back to that neck with a German before things get more back and forth. It's neck vs. ankle. And this is extenuated when Hase throws his boot off. Hase switches up a bit to work Chono's legs too with a great figure four on the outside. Loved the two of them kicking out each others' legs, and I thought Hase was phenomenal in selling the pain of the injured ankle on the kick, his screams of pain in the figure-four after it were pretty awesome too. Why don't people like Hase more? I don't get it; the dude was just brilliant at pro wrestling.

 

Finishing stretch and near falls were hot as hell and very exciting. Hase still kept selling that leg too. And I popped for the kick out on the bridging Northern lights suplex. And then the work on the neck AND on the legs is paid off with an upside down STF thing in a totally PERFECT pay off that had been built to since literally minute one of the match.

 

This match seems like a real lost classic to me. Just such perfect psychology throughout, consistently excellent work in my book here. And I was surprised not to see higher ratings in the yearbook, because this is a fucking GREAT match. I'd say it is better than matches I have at 4.75 like Arn Anderson vs. Barry Windham from 92 or the Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat from Superbrawl 2. 4-stars, honestly, is low-balling it. Aside from some slight execution issues with Chono -- and we give Taue or Tenryu a pass for that in many a five-star affair -- I cannot think of single issue I have with this match. It is perfectly told, the psychology is perfect, and the match builds to a crescendo that then pays off that psychology in the most logical manner possible. Best Hase match I've seen, best Chono match I've seen. I encourage people to re-watch and re-evaluate because this is just phenomenal stuff here in my book. I'd probably rank this in my top 20 matches of all time, maybe just behind Jumbo vs. Misawa 9/1/90. I can't see what it is losing any stars over at all, and would love someone to explain why this is not a five star match. For me, it is.

 

*****