Hey Yo,
Post-split All Japan has always fascinated me and I have a real soft spot for it. It reminds me of mid-90s WCW, an all-star, dream-match promotion. Just like Hogan & Savage had been left for dead, Post-Split All Japan became this big tent promotion that was delivering on the 90s Dream Matches that we never expected to happen while Giant Baba was still alive.
Post-Split All Japan became the refuge for the traditional heavyweight of the 20th Century that didnt fit in the other two promotions. The vision of Pro Wrestling NOAH was to continue the Kings Road style of 20th Century and push it even further. While in New Japan, Antonio Inoki reacting to PRIDE FC and his own love for mixed martial arts pushed New Japan into a weird hybrid of shoot-style and pro wrestling which is described as the Inokiist period. For that reason, wrestlers such as Keiji Mutoh and Satoshi Kojima no longer really fit in New Japan's vision for pro wrestling. It became really apparent when Kazuyuki Fujita won the IWGP Heavyweight Title in April of 2001 that traditional pro wrestling was no longer going to headline in New Japan. I have to believe Mutoh & Kojima saw the writing on the wall. Post-Split All Japan became a platform to continue traditional puroresu without pursuing the maximalist style of NOAH nor the hybrid shoot of Inokiist New Japan.
Obviously, a key to Post-Split All Japan was that Toshiaki Kawada stayed behind. By doing so, he was able to fulfill many dream match scenarios such as a father vs son match with Tenryu, the big Dome match against Sasaki and the classic with Keiji Mutoh. He was the face of 90s All Japan fighting off the new invaders. Just like in the 80s Territories system, you need one homesteader that everyone can rely on while the rest of environment changes around them. As much as I love Misawa & Kobashi, Kawada was best suited for this role to adapt to the new Post-Split All Japan environment.
The next key was having the Prodigal Son return, Genichiro Tenryu who after leaving in 1990, no one would have ever thought he would wrestle in an All Japan ring. With WAR basically not running anymore and having run his course with New Japan, this was a perfect move for Tenryu to revitalize his career and be a headliner for Post-Split All Japan. Tenryu still had a lot of high quality pro wrestling to give and he needed a place to wrestle and NOAH did not make sense for him in the way All Japan did. All Japan desperately needed a headline draw to pit against Kawada while they tried to figure out their next step. A win-win.
The booking decision to have Tenryu rather than Kawada win the vacant Triple Crown. A victory by Kawada would have been ended Tenryu's run on the top. By having Tenryu win, each card could now have a Tenryu match and Kawada match to carry the card. Kawada would end up winning the Triple Crown in February of 2002 from Mutoh after Tenryu & Mutoh had gotten their runs with the belts. However, Kawada's snake-bitten luck with the Triple Crown would continue as he would get injured shortly after winning the Triple Crown forcing him to vacate it. Kawada would end up finally getting his year-plus run with the Triple Crown from September 2003 to February 2005.
All Japan was lucky that Antonio Inoki also in late 2000 was desperate for headlining acts. Sasaki had defeated Tenryu for the title on 1/4/00. Sasaki defeated Muta on 5/5/00 and Muta left for WCW for the rest of the year. Inoki was in some sort of weird contract dispute with Hashimoto who ended up forming Zero-One in 2001. Sasaki was left wrestling Nakanishi and Iizuka, not exactly wrestlers who can draw 50,000+ to the Dome. Inoki needed a big name to wrestle Sasaki at the Dome in October. All Japan desperately needed exposure and couldnt run Kawada vs Tenryu forever. Again a win-win.
Through the All Japan vs New Japan feud, All Japan gained access to Mutoh and Kojima. In my opinion, a healthy promotion has 4-8 headline stars. Any less, you run out of the necessary combinations to get through a calendar year, any more and you have too many mouths to feed. All Japan desperately needed a third headline act and Mutoh provided an immediate jolt with two instant classics against Kawada in April 2001 and against Tenryu in June 2001, which I consider a Top 25 Match of All Time. However, Mutoh needed All Japan just as much as All Japan needed him. With Inokiism on the rise in New Japan and Pro Wrestling NOAH style, Mutoh did NOT fit in either promotion. He needed All Japan as a platform to reinvent himself. The 2001 Mutoh Renaissance with all the dropkicks to the knee, the Dragon Leg Screws and Shining Wizard is one of pro wrestling's greatest reinventions. However without All Japan, he may never have had a platform to explore and present this new side of him. Again a win-win.
Ultimately what would do Post-Split All Japan just as WCW was done in was their inability to create new stars. They inherited one star from the Pre-Split era: Taiyo Kea and he clearly presented as the Young Lion in 2000-01. He wrestled Tenryu three times in 2001 (Triple Crown, Champions Carnival Finals, and October Anniversary Show). He won the tag team titles with Johnny Smith (the first champs of the Post-Split Era) and then upgraded his partner to Keiji Mutoh to win the tag titles back and won the Real World Tag League with Mutoh in a absolute stone cold classic against Kawada & Nagai. Three things ultimately did Kea in, one he got injured in 2003, he did not have much charisma and then finally Satoshi Kojima showed up.
Satoshi Kojima had way more charisma than Kea and is a better wrestler, but as much as I want to like Kojima he does often come up short for me. After he and Mutoh officially joined All Japan in 2002, Kojima was given Kea's spot, he had two high-profile matches against Tenryu, including a classic in July 2002 and a high profile matches with Mutoh in April in the Champions Carnival Semi-finals and against Great Muta in a Budokan show as the Great Koji. He would get his big, year plus title run in 2005, but that story is out of scope for this article.
The last wrestler who needs a mention here is Shinya Hashimoto. As I mentioned, Hashimoto formed his own promotion Zero-One in 2001, which at first drew good numbers. Unfortunately for Hashimoto, with only other headlining star being Naoya Ogawa, interest and attendance waned. As much I have grown to like the idiosyncratic charisma of Tom Howard and his random partners against Hashimoto and/or Naoya Ogawa it doesnt surprise me that this did not draw well. Thus Hashimoto and Zero-One needed some dance partners. New Japan and NOAH were too big to need Zero-One. However, All Japan with Kawada injured and Mutoh/Tenryu having run its course (4 high profile singles matches in 2002), Mutoh needed a new dance partner and who better then his fellow Musketeer, Hashimoto. Again, a win-win. The Hashimoto/Kojima match is a banger and highly recommended. Unfortunately, Hashimoto got injured before we were able to get Hashimoto vs Kawada in 2003. We did eventually get it in 2004, thankfully, but that is out of scope of this article.
So what is the scope of this article, I have watched and reviewed every Triple Crown Title Match from the Split to Hashimoto/Kojima. Hashimoto would vacate the title due to injury and Kawada would defeat Zero-One's Shinjiro Ohtani to finally realize his year-plus run as Triple Crown Champion. I will cover Kawada's Triple Crown run on its own. There is a lot more to Post-Split All Japan than just these Triple Crown matches so I plan to include yearly summaries of 2000, 2001 and 2002 to help the reader discover more Post-Split All Japan.
All Japan Triple Crown Matches October 2000-September 2003
Must-See Matches are in Bold in the below table.
|
Date |
Match |
Rating |
|
10/28/00 |
Genichiro
Tenryu vs Toshiaki Kawada |
4.25 |
|
3/3/01 |
Genichiro
Tenryu vs Taiyo Kea |
3.5 (Inc) |
|
6/8/01 |
Genichiro
Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh |
5 |
|
7/14/01 |
Keiji Mutoh
vs Steve Williams |
3.75 |
|
9/23/01 |
Keiji Mutoh
vs Scott Hall |
2.5 |
|
10/27/01 |
Keiji Mutoh
vs Masahiro Chono |
3 |
|
12/11/01 |
Keiji Mutoh
vs Tatsumi Fujinami |
4 |
|
2/24/02 |
Keiji Mutoh
vs Toshiaki Kawada |
Defies Rating |
|
4/13/02 |
Keiji Mutoh
vs Genichiro Tenryu |
3.5 |
|
7/17/02 |
Genichiro
Tenryu vs Satoshi Kojima |
4.5 |
|
10/27/02 |
Genichiro
Tenryu vs Great Muta |
3 |
|
1/13/03 |
Great Muta vs
The Gladiator (Mike Awesome) |
DUD |
|
2/23/03 |
Great Muta vs
Shinya Hashimoto |
3.75 |
|
4/12/03 |
Shinya Hashimoto
vs Arashi |
INC |
|
6/13/03 |
Shinya Hashimoto
vs Satoshi Kojima |
4.25 |
Genichiro Tenryu vs Toshiaki Kawada - Vacant All Japan Triple Crown 10/28/00
This is probably the closest classic father vs son match we will ever get to see (sorry, David Flair). A lot of time has passed since Tenryu left in 1990 leaving Kawada leaderless in his war against Jumbo Tsuruta. Yet both men are in their classic yellow and black outfits ready to wage over the vacant Triple Crown. Kawada reminds me very much of myself in my teen years when I would play my father in tennis. I never just wanted to win. I had to win the "right" way by out-muscling him with raw power. Kawada just keeps coming at Tenryu with strike after strike looking to bludgeon his father-figure into submission. My father much like Tenryu was a lot wiser and was going to take his time let me make mistakes and find ways to win. Tenryu and my dad both hit hard back. Kawada and I both learned the hard way that tunnel vision is the enemy of success.
This starts off a lot more tentative than Tenryu and Sasaki as there is a great amount of respect between these two veterans. Eventually fires off the first salvo, a series of three wicked kicks to Tenryu back. Tenryu shakes it off and unphased just looks at Kawada as if to say, "Is that all you got, little man?". In that moment, I finally got Tenryu. Ditch says above "radiates contempt", I really saw it in that moment and everything about Tenryu really clicked for me. Tenryu retaliates with a kick to back and Kawada immediately gets up and starts kicking the back of his leg in an awesome spot. Then begins the macho posturing that just works in this match. Each man takes the other's best shot. Kawada fells Tenryu with a high kick so now from the ground Tenryu kicks the back of Kawada's leg so he responds with a knee drop. Tenryu rolls outside bested by his protege. Tenryu begins firing off a closed fist and Kawada does that excellent almost fall on his ass sell. Tenryu is looking for alternate avenues already, but Kawada just keeps coming with his kicks. So then Tenryu gets a hold of that leg and just wrenches it in a dragon leg screw. Tenryu is working smart progressing from a strike battle to the ground game where he does a great job working over Kawada's legs with a variety of holds like the Figure-4 and Sharpshooter. They then do an even better struggle over the vertical suplex than in Sasaki match.
This is where the match goes off the tracks for me a bit. You have Tenryu using the fist to control and work over the legs as a neat story and natural progress from the macho posturing early. But here Kawada blows off all the leg work and just fires off kicks with both legs. The King of Leg Selling pulling that shit was weird. I felt it hurt the progression of the match. I don't mind that Kawada goes back to all the strikes because that makes sense. Kawada has tunnel vision. He never content with just winning he has to win a certain way. In this match, it is clear he is going to win by bludgeoning Tenryu with strikes. He does that and Tenryu absorbs them and hits a lariat and immediately goes for a pin. Tenryu does not give a fuck how he wins. He just wants to win. Tenryu now with his standard offense: enziguri and falling elbow, but not enough. After being with that damn closed fist for 18 minutes, Kawada gives him a Fuck You! Closed Fist. They really built that up well as Tenryu sold that incredible. Finally, Kawada looks for a win with a Stretch Plum. In 2000, nobody thought the Stretch Plum would finish a match, but you feel that Kawada offense is progressing towards a victory rather than annihilating his opponent. Kawada attempts his powerbomb hitting a wicked Kappo Kick in between two attempts. Tenryu back body drops him and hits a lariat and goes right for the pin. Again, Tenryu is looking for a victory. Tenryu attempts his powerbomb and hits a Kappo Kick of his own to set his up, father like son! Tenryu powerbomb only gets 2.
Now we hit the home stretch, Kawada rattles off two back drop drivers in quick succession. Tenryu attempts to get up but stumbles out of the ring wiping out the camera man. As he gets back on the apron, Kawada kicks him fucking flush in the face and bloodies his nose. That looked wicked. Kawada on the outside whips him in the railing and kicks him over the railing. Back inside, Kawada is not pressing his advantage instead futzes around with more strikes. He cracks off his own enziguri, but Tenryu hits a clothesline immediately. The All Japan delayed selling is a bit annoying. Tenryu on the next exchange catches with a right to the back of the head that knocks Kawada out cold. He hits a Northern Lights Bomb for his first Triple Crown since 1989.
I thought Kawada's performance offensively was very genius. He told a coherent story he was going to win in a very precise manner and he never backed down from that. I really didn't like that he blew off the leg selling. Tenryu was excellent in this as the father who still has gas in the tank, who can absorb a ton of punishment and still dish it out. I would have liked his leg heat segment go even longer and then having the Fuck You! Closed Fist transition back into Kawada's offense. I feel like they did the strike exchanges a little too often. Kawada smashing Tenryu's face in really added a lot to this match putting over his strategy and Tenryu's ability to absorb his best shot. I think the booking was smart as it gave All Japan two top dogs instead of one when they would have been ultra-thin. I liked the Sasaki match a lot for its progression and I would say these two were about even. I am probably in the minority for thinking that, but I think there is a lot these two could have done to improve the match. I hate to sound so negative because this match is ridiculously good and a MOTYC for 2000. When you are ranking the best matches of the entire decade, I believe an extra fine analysis warranted. I would say without a doubt if you want to understand why Tenryu is a GOATC then watch these two matches.
By far one of the toughest matches to rank of the decade because there are stretches where they are wrestling at Match of the Decade quality, but there are enough mistakes to detract from the quality. DaWho, really hits the nail on the head on how the layout could have been improved. It really feels like they are wrestling two classic matches in one and that takes you out of the match. Kawada is always great in these "proving himself" matches.He has spent an entire decade trying to prove he was The Man to Misawa and now Misawa is gone so everyone thinks Kawada will ascend to his rightful place until the Old Big Dog has come back to his yard and he is ready to rule again. The tentative start with the tempers flaring was awesome, awesome. There was a great urgency and struggle to their movements. Tenryu kicking from the ground, Kawada with spirited kicks. Tenryu sees that he is losing his grasp and goes for the knee. That is fine with me. Tenryu is not Misawa. He is in fact a lot older than Misawa. It makes sense his grasp on the match is tenuous at best. Yes Tenryu is Kawada's senior, but this is a match that is for the Vacant Championship, they are very much equals. My problem is that after the great leg work and those amazing punches, they reset the match to where Tenryu is The Man and that Kawada has to prove himself, but he is not selling the effects of Tenryu's beatdown. Kawada uses the closed fist to take control and it tells Tenryu that he can give as good as he gets. The finish stretch is really well done with tons of stiff shots and grit and great mirror spots. Kawada blasting Tenryu off the apron and busting up his nose is all you need to know how important this match is. My other big issue is that once Kawada gets him back in the ring he does not do much. Why is he not trying polish Tenryu off and Tenryu is able to make his comeback. The match is too disjointed to be considered a MOTYC in a loaded year or even in a weak year. This should sneak into the top half though. ****1/4
All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Taiyo Kea - AJPW 3/3/01
Tenryu’s first title defense since winning the vacant Triple Crown October post-split. Until Mutoh & Kojima show up full-time, Tenryu & Kawada needed Kea to step up. Kea is still pushed after this but becomes a clear second priority to Mutoh and Kojima. This drew 4500 with a Kawada singlets match against Nagai on the undercard not bad. The numbers they drew in 2001-2003 are pretty crazy given the split.
First thing to note is I didn’t have a complete version of this I think I lost 3 ish minutes to GAORA TV commercials from 2001 that popped me. I will just come out and say it and I prefer their 2002 Budokan match more than this but this was still very good. What was more interesting than the match was Kea’s offensive strategy. He was wrestling just like 21st Century Mutoh. Dropkicks to the knee, Dragon Leg Screws and a Figure-4. No Shining Wizard. I always earmarked 21st Century Mutoh Reinvention starting with Kawada Carnival match in April. This indicates to me it started earlier. When did Mutoh reinvent his style and introduce the Shining Wizard?
Kea’s shine is ho-hum he establishes he can kick and work a headlock. Tenryu has enough of this and starts the match rocking with his usual shit: Stiff chops, catching Kea with a Powerbomb, lariat and general dickishness. Tenryu misses a Kappou Kick in the corner. Kea dropkicks the knee. TENRYU LIGHTS HIS ASS UP WITH A POTATO! Kea is able to dropkick the knee again now repeatedly. Dragon Leg Screw! Mutoh time baby! Love the struggle over the Dragon Leg Screw it make mean so much more. Figure-4! Tenryu makes the ropes and we get a commercial break. We miss how Tenryu gets back off offense. A pretty damn good fire fight breaks out. TENRYU IS PELTING HIM WITH POTATOES! Northern Lights Bomb is not enough because Kea has fighting spirit. Kea does the Kawada collapse on an Irish Whip. Couple Slugging Lariats get the job done for the champ.
Was Tenryu ever in trouble? No. The point was too show that Kea was a game opponent with heart. They would use this strategy plan to yield even better results with Kojima next year. *** 1/2
All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01
Slow and steady wins the race. One wrestling cliche that I feel is misappropriated for many wrestlers is "no wasted motion". In this match, there was no wasted motion. Every single move mattered, was milked and was given time to breathe. At one point, I popped for a dropkick to the knee like it was a frigging Burning Hammer. That is pro wrestling. On the surface, this match is about Mutoh's hyper-focused strategy: the knee, the knee, the knee and Tenryu's consequent retaliation. However, perhaps buried in this match is Tenryu's masterful performance working underneath and selling Shining Wizard from the first minute of the match to the transition to finish. That is pro wrestling. Mutoh comes out all guns blazing and is looking to end it early. Tenryu, off-guard, catches Mutoh's foot who uses it as a step stool to hit a Shining Wizard. He hits his backbreaker, but Tenryu powders before the impending moonsault. The headshot Tenryu suffers prevents him from mounting pretty much any offense in the first ten minutes of the match. When Tenryu is able to string together three moves punctuated with a powerbomb, Mutoh hits a kappo kick to the head sending him reeling to the outside. Mutoh follows up with a plancha and his knees strike Tenryu's head. When Tenryu is climbing back into the ring, Mutoh pounces at the opportunity with two dropkicks to the knee. A desperate Tenryu hits a brainbuster on the apron and a diving elbow through the middle ropes. That is the price you pay for the All Japan Triple Crown. Unfortunately, It is too little too late as Mutoh grabs his leg and dragon leg screws him off the apron and immediately hits a dropkcik from the apron to the knee. Tenryu does his best to try avoid Mutoh's relentless onslaught on the knees, but ends up in the figure-4. After a rope break, Tenryu lands a punch, then a dragon leg screw and then the Ultimate FUCK YOU Dropkick to the knee. I have never popped so hard for a dropkick to the knee. After all the NOAH matches with their constant strike exchanges, we get a shot basement dropkick exchange, which is bitchin'. Tenryu wins with a dragon leg screw and he get his own figure-4. He applies a Texas Cloverleaf, but his knee gives out. Tenryu, feeling in control now, is comfortable to start hitting his big bombs to put away Mutoh. SPIDER GERMAN~! and falling reverse elbow (a combo someone has to crib) get two. Mutoh gets his hope spot with an out of nowhere Frankensteiner. Tenryu blocks the follow-up Shining Wizard. He hits a brainbuster for two. Frustrated, he hits a top rope Frankensteiner for two. He goes back to the well one more time with the brainbuster and eats a knee to the head. He just collapses calling back to the initial Shining Wizard at the outset of the match. They square off once more, but Mutoh hits a bicycle kick and you can feel the end is nigh for Mr. Puroresu. Mutoh hits two Shining Wizards, but neither puts him down for three. Mutoh hits his trademark backbreaker/Moonsault combo to win the Triple Crown and become only the third wrestler to have won both the IWGP Heavyweigh Title and Triple Crown title (Vader and Genichiro Tenryu are the other two who preceded him). ****3/4 (I am not a huge fan of star ratings, but I need something to keep track of all these matches. With that said, I could see me giving this five stars).
Mutoh and Tenryu delivered near perfect individual performances that intertwined to deliver one of the best matches I have seen from 00s Puroresu. Tenryu gave one of the best resilient, sympathetic underneath performances ever. Mutoh was on point with every transition making sense, his strategy was worked to a tee, and he sold well. The whole match Tenryu was hitting home run shots because Mutoh got him off-balance early and even though he recovered by giving Mutoh a taste of his own medicine. Mutoh was able to hit him in the head twice to finally set up for the finish stretch and still Tenryu did not go down without taking 2 Shining Wizards and a moonsault. The only criticism (you have to nitpick when you are trying to determine the best match of the decade) is that it is worked on the slow-side with lots of downtime. I can see other NOAH matches when put together as well as this plus the pace they work edging this out. I think this is a definite MOTDC.
ewatched this match because I fucking loved it the first two times, but it had been like seven months since I last saw it (can't believe that) so I wanted to know if it held up. I found something new to love. After Mutoh hit an out of nowhere Frakensteiner, Tenryu actually baits Mutoh to hit the Shining Wizard setting up his big bombs. That's fucking awesome. Everything I said holds true the key is Mutoh's full court press early throws Tenryu for a loop and when he eats a Shining Wizard early Tenryu has to spend most of the beginning shaking the cobwebs loose. The apron work is enough to make Taue jealous. It is so dramatic as wrestlers are flying over the ropes, through the ropes, on the apron and off the apron. I just love how much these guys are putting on the line to be the Triple Crown Champion. In 2001, Mutoh brought the dropkick back in all its sexy glory. The Fuck You Dropkick to Mutoh's knee is just amazing. I have popped for it every time. Tenryu is amazing on offense with his knee work, but his knee gives out on the Texas Cloverleaf. I loved how Tenryu would keep Mutoh at bay with his nasty closed fists to set up his big bombs. However, on the coup d'grace Mutoh knees him in the head and it is just academic, Mutoh takes shot after shot at his head with his knees and then a moonsault takes the Triple Crown Championship. I am a transitions mark. To me there is nothing more important than the transitions in a wrestling match. These are the critical moments that move the plot along.
1. Right off the bat, you have Mutoh flash Shining Wizard and then the kappo kick that ends Tenryu's first resurgence and brings the match to the outside.
2. You really felt who came out from the war on the oustide/apron would win and Mutoh was able to get the Dragon Leg Screw as Tenryu looked to take the high ground.
3. However not to be outdone Tenryu Fuck you Dropkicks to the Knee put him in the drivers seat.
4. Tenryu baits Mutoh into a Shining Wizard that he blocks to hit a brainbuster.
5. Mutoh knees him in the skull calling back to #1 and sets up his victory.
I was wary of going the full monty before, this match is truly a Top 5 match of the decade and a definite ***** match in my opinion.
AJPW Triple Crown Champion Keiji Muto vs Dr. Death Steve Williams - AJPW 7/14/01 Budokan
Not a bad showing for the Budokan at 12,800, Doc seems like a good first challenger for Muto. In the pre-match promo, Doc says the belts are coming home to All Japan so Muto must still be NJPW 4 Life and doing the invasion angle. Tenryu and Kawada are in the undercard in separate matches so definitely some support.
I had no idea what 2001 Doc would hold but he was pretty damn fun! His body has definitely aged but he is still a Suplex machine and throwing in some Fuck Yous and Son of Bitches didn’t hurt. This happens smack in the middle of the 2001 Muto Renaissance but was not over laden with the 2001 Muto tropes. Muto was put in an early hole and had to use his new strategy to dig himself out of the hole. I dug this match a lot.
Unfortunately we are JIP to Doc in control we are missing about 4 minutes on the front end of a 19 minute match so not horrible. Doc teases to Huck Muto out into the crowd with a Gorilla Press but drops him back into the ring. We get the beginning of the 2001 Muto run…Dragon Leg Screw, DROPKICK to the knee and SHINING WIZARD~! Holy shit is it already over? No! Muto hurt his knee on Doc’s face and rolls to the outside. He is really clutching it. Doc gives chase but Muto sidesteps runs him into the post. Muto hobbling tries to get back in the ring, chop block! Really nice Muto bump. Doc is firmly in control.
He does a great job mixing the suplexes, knee work (headbutts to the knee ala Tenzan) and trash talk. Muto gets a Misawa-Rana out of the Doctor Bomb. Doc nails the Backdrop Driver. Muto powders classic AJPW. Muto kicks off the ring post on a second Backdrop Driver. Back in they trade FUCK YOUS! It is really off to the races. Doc hits his Doctor Bombs but no Oklahoma Stampede and some suplexes. Muto gets his moonsault but his knee stops him for capitalizing. Muto tries to go for Shining Wizards but first two times Doc catches and throws him. Doc tries another German Suplex but OLD MAN MUTO FLIPS OUT LANDS ON HIS FEET AND DROPKICKS THE KNEE! Look at Muto Go! SHINING WIZARD~! In true All Japan fashion, Doc has to eat 27 of them before he loses but his discombobulated selling after them is great and having not watched AJPW in a while I have Some nostalgia for it.
Way better than I expected and it is not even really because of Muto, Doc really brought the offense and the intensity. Muto sold his knee well and built his comeback logically. ***3/4
AJPW Triple Crown Champion Keiji Muto vs Scott Hall - NJPW 9/23/01
Man if you ever wanted to show someone the most bare bones, stripped down pro wrestling match this might be the one. They just sleepwalk through this match. All of Hall’s punches and work are tight but he is putting in minimal effort. Muto is in 2001 cruise control mode. He found a formula that is bulletproof in 2001. Muto with the Triple Crown is still a mind fuck. Weird fun fact that Hall challenged for Triple Crown.
I think there’s some lingering NWO civil war shit here. Hall is with Chono and Muto is with TenKoji. The first five minutes they work a headlock, Muto hits his power elbow. Hall hits a cool Eaton-esquires slingshot back Suplex to take control. His punches look great and he throws Muto out. More punches. The work is tight but feels pedestrian. Muto hip tosses out the ab stretch. Standard 2001 Muto stuff here. DROPKICKs to the knee, dragon leg screw, figure-4. Tries the back breaker/moonsault combo but Hall cuts him off with a super Back Suplex which Hall loved as a transition in the 90s. Hall runs through his shit: chokeslam, sack of shit. Muto works in the DROPKICK to the knee (that’s why 2001 formula is so good) and gets the moonsault but there’s shit with Chono and TenKoji. Shining Wizard but Hall hits a lariat, Razor Edge but Muto wriggles free and two Shining Wizards later he wins.
A match that just never got out of first gear.
All Japan Triple Crown Champion Keiji Mutoh vs Masahiro Chono - AJPW 10/27/01
Pretty weird that two of the biggest 90s New Japan stars are headlong All Japan’s Anniversary Budokan show. These two have been having great matches deserve to main event a big show somewhere and if Inoki was not going to give to them might as well do it here. Mutoh is 0-3 versus Chono in past two years with most recent loss just three months prior. Can Mutoh hang onto the Triple Crown?
What a bizarre and I would say bad finish to an otherwise great match. I also disliked the beginning. Chono comes out the gates red hot total full court press. Bang SHINING WIZARD BY CHONO! Awesome! Mutoh powders. Unlike the Tenryu match where that becomes the key plot point it is totally forgotten immediately and they just do standard New Japan chain wrestling sequence. That sucked because they had a real chance to make this match feel different.
Mutoh goes for the STF a couple times. They end up in my least favorite tree hold the bundle of leg locks. Mutoh eventually gets a hold of the leg. It is 2001 Mutoh you know the drill. Dropkicks to the knee, Dragon Leg Screw and the Figure-4. I eat this shit up. Didnt love Chono’s transition a Flatliner, Piledriver and another Flatliner. Wish it was more organic, he does the Butterfly Lock. Mutoh pops off a Dragon Leg Screw on the apron and ROPE-ASSISTED SHINING WIZARD! up until this point it is pretty similar to knee vs neck psychology to their other matches.
Mutoh goes for the Moonsault but Chono is up. He BLOCKS the Shining Wizard. One of the challenges of the Shining Wizard is that it is hard to see when someone blocks it or eats it. He hits his own! STF! Mutoh makes the ropes! Kappou Kick! Mutoh eats canvas on the Moonsault attempt. STF~! They are really building to a the finish. It is getting hot in here. STF WITH CHOKE! How Mutoh lost two of the matches.
Then the match gets weird. Chono blocks all of Mutoh’s Shining Wizards and hits a bunch of his own and a Yakuza Kick. Mutoh keeps kicking out. Mutoh Frankensteiner and he wins?!? WTF?!?
The body of 1/4/00 and 7/20/01 were better but then the run up to the finish was the hottest they have done. Then they just finished with a wet fart. *** I guess
AJPW Triple Crown Champion Keiji Muto vs Tatsumi Fujinami - NJPW 12/11/01
This is the type of match that is so underrated. It is that mid-tempo rocker that you can just vibe and cruise too. It is never gonna be a banger or a 5-star classic, but it so damn satisfying and you can just cruise with the match. It is a lost art to have a match this simple but so appetizing.
Terrific mirror match between these two. If Hashimoto is the heir to Choshu, I always felt there was a connection between Fujinami and Muto. Both a little undersized and aerial. Fujinami obviously a much better technical wrestler and Muto had more theatrics. I really love their 1991 match where Muto was in the Great Muta role. Feels like perfect 90s New Japan match. I love how they organically build from the typical New Japan amateur wrestling into such a rousing finish run. It is cool how they just take what the match gives them rather ham-fisting highspots. Muto gets the power driver elbow. He was looking for the Back Handspring Elbow and Fujinami goes for a choke. Muto breaks free and goes to his 2001 formula. He executes a Dragon Leg Screw on the Dragon. Fujinami brutha I invented that game. Hits the Dragon Leg Screw back and Figure-4s Muto (Muto screaming fuck three times helps a lot). It was brilliant. I was hooked. The rest of the match is a terrific showcase of how to do a symmetrical match (read lots of mirrored leg work). Muto keeps trying to play Fujinami's game working the leg (dropkicks to the knee, Dragon Leg Screw) but it backfires on him (he goes for figure-4, but Fujinami counters beautifully into a leglock). Fujinami is wrestling a brilliant defensive match. He throws in a Kappou Kick after a dropkick to the knee and that seems to help. Then a dropkick to the knee from the middle rope, but he leaves his feet one too many times and Fujinami throws him off with a DRAGON LEG SCREW! Fujinami hit a top rope kneedrop! Fujinami back to the figure-4! MUTO FRANKENSTEINER OUT OF NOWHERE! Shining Wizard Blocked! FUJINAMI SHINING WIZARD! CROWD AND I LOSE OUR COLLECTIVE MINDS! Fujinami goes back up top...TOP ROPE SHINING WIZARD BY MUTO! Muto hits a barrage of Shining Wizards to win!
Terrific Lo-Fi match! That builds out of their chain wrestling into dueling leg work and then finally into the insane Shining Wizard barrage! Love it! ****
AJPW Triple Crown Champion Keiji Mutoh vs Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW 2/24/02
Mutoh 2001 loves to work the knee. Kawada loves to sell the knee. This should be easy. At minimum it should be great and their ceiling is match of the decade. Somehow, they deliver something that is just peculiar. I hesitate to call it bad, but it is not great that's for sure. They did have a classic in 2001 so they have it in them I have seen it, but this match was not it. This reminded me of the Kawada vs Hashimoto match which I wanted to love so badly, but was just weird at times. This was just plain bizarre.
The match was riddled with pop-up no-selling. I don't mean like I am nitpicking like for a good twenty minutes they just do pop-up no-selling. I mean you could just call that a no-sell was coming. It felt like Cena vs Owens at times in how they would use one wrestler's offense to create another's offense. Mutoh just got done hitting his standard 90s offense Back Handspring Elbow and Power Elbow. Then he can just sits. I am like ok. Kawada suplexes him. Mutoh pops up and Shining Wizard so that Kawada can do the All Japan fall out of the ring sell. That's just a microcosm of the match. They pretty much do this style for the next twenty minutes. It is just bizarre. I don't know what they were trying to accomplish. It being 2001 Mutoh there are 8 million dropkicks to the leg and dragon leg whips, which I love. I know it bothers a ton of people because it is so repetitive. It is actually the repetition that I like. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Then when the pattern breaks it becomes interesting. So I approve. I did think that's best part of the match. Kawada's selling in the moment was great per usual. However, he would keep no-selling and then he would be running around and kicking Mutoh in the head. The other thing is there were way too many Shining Wizards. I love that the idea behind the knee psychology is that the opponent struggles to get back to his feet and BANG SHINING WIZARD! But that should be a knockout blow not constantly blown off. I loved that Mutoh who is usually terrible at selling decided he was going to sell his own figure-4 (Kawada did reverse the pressure for a while). I am like neither one of you want to sell, but now you decided you are going to sell something that no one sells besides Flair in the 80s. The match was so bizarre. The cardinal sin of the match is not the weird pop-up no-selling head kicks and Shining Wizards, it was when Kawada did his glassy eye sell of the Shining Wizards. He died and it made it so that I couldnt believe in his comeback. I bit on the Moonsault because it seemed like the logical conclusion after a barrage of Shining Wizards because it was one level up. but when he kicked out. I knew Kawada was winning. It was so lame. Mutoh hits another Shining Wizard and Kawada sorta blocks it, but Mutoh sells like he is hurt. It was an incredibly lame transition. Then Kawada did a bunch of powerbombs including a Ganso Bomb. On the first attempt, Mutoh had some second thoughts and deadweights him. Mutoh is NOT Misawa and wanted to take the move safely. He hits the Ganso Bomb but it is safer than the Misawa one and of course just like in the Misawa match it is not the finish. Powerbomb wins the match for Kawada and he wins the Triple Crown for the fourth time. The curse of Kawada continues as he gets injured a month into his reign and is forced to vacate it.
This match defies rating. It is utterly bizarre.
Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - AJPW 4/13/02 Vacant Triple Crown Title
Toshiaki Kawada continued his streak of snake-bitten Triple Crown runs having defeated Mutoh for the title in February but had to vacate immediately after due to injury. Pretty sensible title match to fill the vacancy as these are the two biggest stars in All Japan and the most recent two champions.
Mutoh and Tenryu have pretty crazy chemistry together. This match continued their streak of very good matches however when two of your other matches I have rated at ****3/4 and at ***** this has to be considered a little disappointing even though I enjoyed it overall.
The famous 6/8/01 match starts with a bang Shining Wizard at the bell and Tenryu is climbing out of a hole. Here they do a traditional New Japan style open. Tenryu hits the first big move a Shining Wizard and does the Pro Wrestling Love pose. Mutoh sells this as more of an insult than something that hurts which I dig. Mutoh uses DROPKICKs to get Tenryu to the outside. Crazy plancha where it looked like Tenryu ate ass and then a Shining Wizard up against the railing. Mutoh used a cross armbreaker on the floor which Tenryu started tapping out to immediately which I dug as a way to sell how painful the hold is. If it was in the ring it’d be over.
Mutoh worked the arm the rest of the match which was a smart decision in my estimation since the previous match was knee focused. He used the Dragon Leg Screws as takedowns to set up wristlocks and armbars as opposed to hurt the knee which I thought was a cool touch. I really liked one of Mutoh’s cutoffs where he used a Frankensteiner to set up a cross armbreaker attempt. Another good example was Tenryu missed his second attempt of a reverse top rope elbow so Mutoh pounced with a DROPKICK and another cross-armbreaker. It was cool to see Mutoh work a different body part.
For his part I didn’t feel Tenryu held ups his end. He’d go on to have a killer match with Kojima in July 2002 but I thought his selling was spotty and his high spots didn’t have the same zing. I liked the transition out of heat with a lariat to the back of Mutoh’s head when Mutoh tried the Back Handspring Elbow. The first top rope Reverse Elbow and Powerbomb had very little heat and that should have been a mini-climax. I really didn’t like how he blew off the cross-armbreakers after Frankensteiner and the missed Top Rope Elbow. He was fine but I thought Mutoh was wrestling a laser-focused match and if Tenryu was wrestling at his usual level that this could have been special.
At this point, they go into a fireworks finish stretch and abandon the body of the match. Tenryu does a better job selling attrition than Mutoh. Mutoh hits a barrage of Shining Wizards after a DROPKICK to the knee. He really clocked him on the 3rd, gets two. Then it becomes a game of Tenryu lariat/brainbuster vs Mutoh Shining Wizard/Moonsault. Mutoh throws in a Kappou Kick and Bicycle Kick for good measure both which popped me. Mutoh blocks the lariat at one point. Knees Tenryu in the cranium on the brainbuster. Mutoh for the life of him cannot hit a moonsault. The first two Tenryu moves and on the third he connects but with Tenryu’s knees! Great stuff! Lariat and then a brainbuster where Tenryu fights through Mutoh’s knees to land it and win the Triple Crown!
There’s a lot to like here Mutoh’s arm work and the finish stretch is creatively done. I really thought Mutoh might win on the third moonsault but to have him eat knees was creative and compelling. Tenryu warning the brainbuster was great. Peculiar selling choices by both Tenryu and Mutoh keep this at ***1/2.
Genichiro Tenryu vs Satoshi Kojima - 07/17/02
The two trends I have noticed from my limited Kojima watching is to expect one shitty modified Ace Crusher and that the beginning of the match is always better than the end. I will say this match the the goodness lasted well into the match thus making it is his best match yet. After being dissed and dismissed by Tenryu in the February match, Kojima came out with something to prove and right off the bat gives Tenryu a taste of his own medicine: punches and chops in the corner. Tenryu gives him a Fuck You Chop that may have been a little high as Kojima gasps for breath powdering to the outside. The high chop to the throat was Tenryu's ace in the hole throughout the match when the going got rough. It is quite a trump card to have. Tenryu, who is pissed that Kojima is being a little baby about him trying to crush Kojima's larynx, throws a water bottle at him. Got to love, Mr. Puroresu!
Kojima's new strategy is just to kick him in the knee. Tenryu retaliates by kicking him in the head when he tries to go for a toehold following up with a high chop and kappo kick. Tenryu punches him in the face and Kojima goes back to the knee. A dragon leg screw causes Tenryu to powder. Kojima pounces on the knee, but Tenryu just overwhelms him. Tenryu hits a pretty explosive follow up chop into corner with some more punches. Tenryu lariats Kojima out and dives onto Kojima. Judging by this crowd, the chicks dig this lumpy old bastard. Tenryu has been taking Kojima to the woodshed and it seems at this point they are going to make the Fighting Spirit play to get Kojima over here.
Kojima takes out Tenryu's knee with a lariat on the apron. I love that spot! Here comes Kojima: plancha, somersault off the apron, dragon leg screw, figure-4, scorpion deathlock. He goes back to give Tenryu some more of his own medicine with punch/chop combination in the corner. Kojima is feeling it, but his top rope elbow only gets 2. What does Tenryu do to stymie Kojima? Chop to the throat, duh. Tenryu hit him with two sick deadwight Germans, really showed off Tenryu's power. At this point, I actually wrote "Wow 20 minutes in and no Ace Crushers yet!" in my notes. Literally a second later, Kojima floats over on a suplex attempt and hits an Ace Crusher. It was inevitable. He hits his stupid looking neckbreaker and his scoop piledriver. The best part is on the pin, Tenryu's foot looks for the rope and when he realizes he is too far he kicks out. Thats excellent ring awareness in bot a kayfabe and non-kayfabe sense! Tenryu punches Kojima and hits a brainbuster to regain advantage. He hits the Spider German, but misses back elbow. Thus Kojima hits his stupid fuckin middle rope Ace Crusher. What does Tenryu do, everybody? Chop to throat. Kojima has FIGHTING SPIRIT~! He lariats Tenryu with no padding only there is a bandage there.
We hit the home stretch with a chopfest. It is too bad they descended into trite 00s puro hell because they were doing so well. Tenryu hits tow brainbusters for an excellent false finish. Kojima gets his pop for a lariat false finish. Instead of just finishing it there, they dragged it out. Tenryu blocks a lariat hits two brainbusters, but Kojima does a dazed lariat that left me shakin' my head. They do a chopfest were both men sell their fatigue. Tenryu wins with a brainbuster and powerbomb combo to a lesser pop than the false finishes.
The finish issues is the same ones that plague the WWE today with so many false finishes that the crowd does not pop as hot for the actual finish. Plus they just dragged it out way too much at that point. Before that, the match was really good and Kojima gave his best performance yet. He had a chip on his shoulder he was going to prove his mettle to Tenryu and used his moves against him, took out the knee and then threw the bombs. Plus he did take one helluva a beating. Tenryu was his usual steady eddy self making everything awesome around him throwing water bottles in disgust, chops to throat, deadweight Germans.
I loved this a lot more on rewatch. Yes, this match really suffered from overkill problems, but the first 20 minutes was really incredible work and it just felt absolutely HUGE! I have liked a lot of post-split All Japan matches, but this is one that felt like the biggest. I didn't really care for the first match from a standalone standpoint, but watching it before this match makes this match that much better. Kojima spends most of the first match getting his ass handed to him. Here you can really seen how he has grown. He is doing Tenryu signature chop/punch combo in the corner, winning shoulder tackles and besting him on the mat. I loved his selling of Tenryu's high chop and Tenryu throwing a water bottle at Kojima, saying get back in here, you pussy. Some of the transitions again were a bit lame, but still I liked Tenryu working through the knee attacks at first with his own offense felt like some high-end struggle. But then Lariat to the knee on the apron was too much. Tenryu is not above punching to the midsection or the head. That is the real difference is Tenryu is going to take shortcuts. I thought Tenryu looked offensively crisp and this was definitely his last great singles match. Once it got into punch vs lariat and brainbuster versus Ace Crusher they definitely lost a little steam, but that's where the crowd buoyed the match with their overwhelming support for Kojima. I loved Kojima actually hitting the Lariat on this Fighting Spirit run, but still didn't have enough. Tenryu has to bust out the powerbomb to win. As the decade progressed, it was harder to put on these titanic showdowns, but this felt like Kojima was going to be a huge star. Tenryu did not carry him. Kojima looked great on offense, he was taking it too Tenryu and when selling he was firing up bringing it. I loved Tenryu selling the knee, but at the same time never losing his arrogance. He was still confident he could beat this punk if he could just punch him in the face. I will have this in 30s and I have it #3 on the year. ****1/2
AJPW Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Great Muta - AJPW 10/27/02
The big October Anniversary show at the Budokan, the biggest main event they could deliver without Kawada or any outsiders. The beauty of Mutoh is once you have run his matches in to the ground with someone you can always run one with The Great Muta. This doesn’t touch their ‘96 WAR classic but it is on par with their April title match.
It is the Great Muta so lots of slow-paced brawling which sometimes works and sometimes is boring. This is more the latter. Lots of looking under the ring he finds that wicker witch’s broom again but doesn't use it. He spews some mist. He finally kicks into gear with a bell Shot. It takes a lot to make Tenryu bleed he finally gets there with the bell hammer and array of other things. Tenryu clobbers him a water bottle but Muta fights through. I wish Tenryu fought back more or sold more interestingly. Tenryu takes back over by spewing the water in the eyes of Muta! He runs through his offense: Punch/Chop, Enziguiri, Brainbuster (which beat Mutoh in April), Top Rope Reverse Elbow and Powerbomb. Just not enough heat or struggle. Too neat. Muta knees out of brainbuster. Gets chair but Tenryu gets the chair and throws it at him! MIST~! That was cool. Tenryu blocks the Shining Wizard. DROPKICK to the knee which in most matches is ho hum but in Mutoh match means a lot. Tenryu hits his Spider German which is a crazy thing to do at 50. Tenryu goes for 3rd Brainbuster but Mutoh hits the Bicycle Kick. There is so weird awkward shit down the stretch. Muta Shining Wizard the ref but im not sure he was supposed to because the ref didn’t really sell like a traditional ref bump and it look awkward. Some of the pauses after the Shining Wizards to Tenryu were clunky. He won with a moonsault.
It was fine there was so good stuff but this 2002 work says leave the memories along the 96 WAR match and 01 All Japan match are classics watch those. ***
AJPW Triple Crown Champion Great Muta vs The Gladiator (Mike Awesome) - AJPW 01/13/03
Well this was the worst match I have watched since I returned to reviewing. A heatless mess. Early on there was the spot that Big Sexy and other tall wrestlers do where the stick the boot up and choke their opponent in the corner. Awesome just had his boot resting languidly on Muta’s chest as Muta did not move. It was absolutely pathetic. They put zero effort in. Hall at least made sure his shit look snug. Awesome besides his plancha and top rope splash did not try at all.
Scratch everything I said about Muta wrestling two different matches depending on his gimmick. We were back to drop kicks to the knee which didn’t connect, dragon screws, STF and Figure-4. This match made feature the most pointless use of blood ever. Muta hit a Shining Wizard off the apron and posted Awesome who blades because it is a Muta match but didn’t sell shit. Muta hit all his spots. Awesome just lariats after the back handspring elbow. Hits his power spots (powerbombs) and flying spots. Muta does not what to take the Super Powerbomb so he bails and it is kinda top rope Pedigree. Then He mists Awesome who doesn’t sell it. This is self-parody. Muta hits a bunch of rope assisted Shining Wizards to win.
Great Muta felt like a self-parody doing all his cool spots but without any heat. Ice cold. Horrible match.
AJPW Triple Crown Champion Great Muta vs Shinya Hashimoto - AJPW 2/23/03
These two drew a sellout at the Budokan with ZERO undercard support, we are talking absolutely nothing. I think that is more impressive than the match itself. All Japan as a place for New Japan refugees + Kawada and Tenryu could have been great. Long term they would have needed more than just Kojima for their future but for the first half of the 2000s they actually were fine in terms of star power. The big thing going into this is re-adjusting yourself when watching Great Muta vs Keiji Mutoh. Gone are all the basement dropkicks, dragon leg screws, figure-4s and it is replaced by chairs, blood and mist. Yes the Shining Wizard and Moonsault are still there but you need to re-align yourself. The selling is another thing that took me a while to figure out. Great Muta sells with more of a register. My thought process is he supposed to be a horror movie monster. You can stun him but he keeps coming back for more. It used to feel like random no-sells but once you see Great Muta the Monster through that lens as opposed to Keiji Mutoh the Man his selling makes a lot more sense.
A match that gets a lot more entertaining as it goes on. I am a Mutoh/Muta defender for the most part, but I forget some time how brutal his stalling as Great Muta can be. Lots of looking under the ring, powdering, making kids cry. The crowd was 100% there for these. They traded missed elbow drops and the crowd was whipped into a frenzy. These 16000 people were pumped for this match. Hashimoto finally gives chase. Muta whips him into the railing. Muta kicks a Young Boy in the stomach and he tries to use him as a stepping stool to hit a Shining Wizard. Either he lost his balance or the Young Boy Collapsed but Muta fucking ate it on the Shining Wizard one of those, it seemed cool in your mind but looked dumb in execution.
Match picks up here as Muta slams into a post and crowns him with a chair to busts Hashimoto open. Muta is a great garbage brawler and this was pretty good. Choking with the cord, jabbing a pen into the wound, biting the wound all great shit. Hashimoto gets some kicks as a hope spot. Muta grabs a chair. Mists Hashimoto, the blood and green mist combo never gets old, always looks cool as fuck. He uses the chair to hit a sick Shining Wizard. Chair much more stable than Young Boys. Muta misses a moonsault. Hashimoto has his opening. Muta counters the Brainbuster into a DDT. Muta is back to hitting Shining Wizards and gets the Moonsault, but Hashimoto kicks out. Hashimoto BLOCKS the Shining Wizard with his forearm. HASHIMOTO SWEEPS THE LEG~! Perhaps the greatest sell of a Legsweep ever as Muta sells like he was shot in the back of the leg. Match is just worth watching for this. I vaguely remember Hashimoto falling in love with this Inverted Triangle submission, but Muta makes the ropes, this felt out of place. Hashimoto blocks the Mist with forearms and hits his own Shining Wizard! BRAINBUSTER!
Sue me, but this was pretty fun. Dumb as fuck but pretty fun. If this was JIP to Muta busting out Hashimoto I could be convinced to go like **** as the finishing stretch was great Hashimoto as a Karate/Kung-Fu warrior taking on the evil horror movie villain who just keeps coming back. With the beginning, I think I will go ***3/4, but the last ten minutes or so is good craic.
All Japan Triple Crown Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs Arashi - AJPW 4/12/03
We only have 6 minutes of a 17 minute match so I won’t rate this but it is the only Triple Crown title defense between the split and Kawada’s monster reign that I have not watched so I wanted to watch what I could find. All Japan does some pretty monster business here with a sell out at the Budokan with this on top but I have to assume it is Kawada’s return tag bout against Mutoh that drew the house, Tenryu is also on the undercard. Arashi was getting push during this AJPW vs Z-1 feud. I don’t think I have ever seen an Arashi match he looks like a lumpy WAR dude to me.
We get the last 6 minutes. Arashi is absorbing some kicks. He goes on his big finish tear which is pretty good. Belly 2 Belly. Powerbomb. Top Rope Splash! I dug it! He charges at Hashimoto who DDTs him and polishes him off with an inverted Triangle choke. It was a good finish stretch I’d watch the whole thing if we have it. They teased Kojima and Kawada as the invading Hashimoto’s next challengers.
AJPW Triple Crown Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 6/13/03
I don't know if I am so burnt out on the NOAH style or because I got a wicked hot chick's number last night (toot! toot!), but this was damn entertaining. That was one of the most exciting finish stretches I have seen in some time. I was hanging on every move as Hashimoto The Destroyer looked to put down Crowd Favorite Kojima. The "STOP HITTING ME WITH THAT LARIAT" punches had me going bezerk and you did not know when Kojima was going to strike next with his lariat.
The beginning was so refreshing with two wrestlers just struggling over basic holds and working a classic championship style build. A spot like the early cross armbreaker, which Kojima sold well by immediately getting to the ropes and powdering, gives the crowd a quick highspot and demonstrates how important is not to make a mistake. From a kayfabe perspective, I feel like Hashimoto was not really trying to win the match just sort of playing defense then he dropkicked Kojima to the outside and the match really picked up. Hashimoto starts to kick ass on the outside with a DDT on the outside. Kojima hits a desperation lariat to the knees. Hashimoto hits a Fuck You knee lift and then a HUGE double stomp from the top rope. SWEET! Kojima hits a bad bad looking back drop driver. Then PRO WRESTLING LOVE Shining Wizard, but kick out! Kojima gets the figure-4 and signals for the LARIATO! HASHIMOTO THE DESTROYER CHOPS AWAY THE LARIAT ARM! KICKS TO THE ARM! Hammerlock DDT, STO and Inverse triangle choke, but Kojima makes it to the ropes. HASHIMOTO IS PISSED AND IS GOING TO DRILL KOJIMA WITH A BRAINBUSTER! Kojima slips out and LARIAT! Kojima has his lariat, but Hashimoto knows it is coming so you get these great Hashimoto destroys arm, but Kojima just sucks it up and nails lariats because he nothing else. Then Hashimoto just starts punching the fuck out of his arm to set up THE BRAINBUSTER~! Hashimoto The Destroyer wins, but Kojima shows he can compete with the big boys.
A more interesting thread or hook earlier in the match would make this a MOTYC, but it falls just short. I need to rewatch the Tenryu matches, but as it stands this is my favorite Kojima match. He unquestionably always brings the crowd to his matches, but here he was focused and worked hard as an underdog.. This was Hashimoto's best pure singles performance from the 00s where he just looked like a world beater, but still gave Kojima enough to make the match competitive. Most importantly, they peaked with a super hot finish. ****1/4
