[2000-02-11-NJPW] Shinya Hashimoto & Tatsumi Fujinami & Takashi Iizuka & Kensuke Sasaki & Manabu Nakanishi vs Masa Chono & Satoshi Kojima & Super J & Don Frye & Hiroyoshi Tenzan

[soup23]

The first fall of this spends a lot of time grappling. The action is fine but not too inspiring. Super J (NOW Sting) mixing it up with the likes of Hash and Sasaki is an interesting look I suppose. Match breaks down and Sasaki is able to secure the first fall for his team. Hashimoto raises the intensity in the second fall by demanding that Chono get into the ring to face him. Second fall really features a big segment between Hashi and Tenzan which was exciting. Hash is able to tap him out for the second fall. A good match but it didn’t make me forget the multiman NJ classics we have seen before. That may be unfair but is kind of the expectations that are going to be present when I see these type of matches on paper. ***1/2

[Loss]

As New Japan multi-mans go, this isn't in the top tier, but it's still a very good match. The painful truth about these types of matches is that the crowd has to do their part to put them over the top and create atmosphere, and they really didn't here. The work was strong, but when you spend 20+ minutes building to everyone in the ring brawling and going all out and Hashimoto having paired down interactions with Chono and Tenzan while their teammates are held at bay, it seems like the crowd would be a bit more invested, because these guys laid a very strong foundation. Still, this is absolutely worth seeing and manages to be a near great match even without the crowd going bonkers. A star-studded, action-packed extravaganza. ***3/4

[cramerjason87]

This was disappointing. The match could never get a coherent run going which kept the crowd from heating up. They continued the Hashimoto mega-push here which is working well.

[Moonsault Marvin]

This was okay, but not on par with the big 80's matches. I liked seeing Fujinami in there.

[Tim Evans]

This was a mess. Too many guys doing nothing major. Mostly here for Chono vs Hashimoto which was nice and weird matchups like Fujinami vs Frye and anything Super J. Not very good.