[2000-04-20-NJPW] Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka & El Samurai & Kendo Kashin vs Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Koji Kanemoto & Shinya Makabe

[soup23]

Big spot for Makabe vs Liger to start things off. I think I will end up liking Shinya more than Togi. Kanemoto and Tanaka have a showcase sequence too that was really engaging. What a flush juniors division NJ has right now. I can see watching this match how frustration would result in regards to Kashin as he was the worst person in here. Taikawa is able to use his power spots against Tanaka. This is a showcase match for sure and a placeholder but everyone gets to do impressive things and the match really chugs along quickly. Finale ends up being Samurai against Makabe/Kanemoto. Samurai is able to get a bit of distance and tags in Kashin. Match breaks down with all eight flying and Makabe ends up getting caught in a flash armbreaker and tapping out. ***1/2

[Loss]

Really terrific match with everyone going all out on a house show. "Going all out" in this context doesn't really mean busting out huge moves as it means the commitment to doing something unique and thoughtful. Something interesting to me was how Kanemoto and Otani were alternating as team captains throughout the match, directing traffic when they wanted their teammates to do something specific. You would think Kanemoto was being positioned to usurp Otani in the division, but then you remember that Kanemoto has been treated like a joke in his feud with Liger and come back to reality. The other thing is how much I've enjoyed young Makabe. He's not some all-time great or anything, but I just seriously don't recall hearing anything about him at all, and I've enjoyed him in every match so far. Here, he takes a shitkicking from Liger and lives to tell about it before getting the hot tag. Samurai is so good in matches like this in a way that I think sometimes gets overlooked because he's not necessarily drawing attention to himself. But as the reliable "good hand", he's one of the best. ***1/2

[Moonsault Marvin]

This one was all action, with everybody in the match going full speed. Everybody put in a decent performance, even though the match didn't feel consequential. Fun match.