A few matches under 10 minutes

 Kengo Mashimo vs. Isami Kodaka, K-Dojo 9/30/2002

Hey... did you know skinny deathmatch wrestler Isami Kodaka was once a skinny shootfighter dressed like a SHOOTO guy throwing wild punches and trying to break arms with flash armbars? You'll be surprised! This was just a hair under 5 minutes and it was like a more primitive version of Ikeda/Ono, so it was still pretty great! Both guys look awesome here. Mashimo doesn't have the hair dye and ponytail yet but he looks like quite the Hashimoto-esque figure here being a karateka dressed in black and taking on a shooter. Kodaka throws wild punches and spin kicks just great. The crazy spill over the rope was awesome  and the way Mashimo just decimated Kodaka with some of the most brutal head kicks and knees ever was harrowing. Quite the sub-5 minute war.

No Rules Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Kensuke Sasaki, NJPW 4/9/2001

It’s Shinya Hashimoto vs Kensuke Sasaki in 2001 New Japan in a NO RULES match. So it’s pretty much exactly what you want: plenty violent, short, no filler, just raw straight forward brutality. I had no idea this match even happened until now and it has no ratings in Cagematch, so that tells you this era of New Japan is still kinda underrated. Hashimoto goes into this with MMA gloves and there are some CAPTURE-esque exchanges to start. Sasaki is best as a primitive crowbar and that’s what he does here, Hashimoto would make him eat some hands early on so Sasaki just nuked him with a huge suplex. No Rules means there’s no rope breaks so Sasaki came across like a savage trying to rip out Hashimotos arm when he went for the armbar. Hashimoto came back with one of the nastiest punch flurries I’ve ever seen. After almost knocking Sasaki out, Hashimoto took the gloves off and they agree to a pro wrestling lock up before throwing kesagiri chops which was pretty awesome. Sasaki snatching Hash for the northern lights bomb out of nowhere was also pretty amazing. The car crash violent bomb throwing last few minutes were fairly great. Hashimoto is a king at building long intense matches but this kind of violent outburst also suits him pretty well.

Akira Nogami vs Yuji Nagata, NJPW/AAA 11/16/1994

Great 7 minute match. Young Nagata was working like an aggressive BattlARTS guy here, throwing wild strikes constantly and fighting back against Nogami with shootstyle technique. Nogami, of course, would end up grabbing one of those kicks, twist him over with a Dragon Screw and then stomp the hell out of that leg. Wrestling can be so simple but effective sometimes. Nagatas hulk up was also surprisingly great actually. The finishing stretch while brief was all well timed cool moments, such as Nogami resisting hard against Nagatas belly to belly suplex and hitting a really precise enzuigiri or Nagata unleashing some explosive kicks. Give me two guys going all out for 7 minutes and really comitting even to basic stuff like this any day.

Volk Han vs. Masayuki Naruse, RINGS 10/23/1993

This match has been called a contender for the greatest wrestling match under 10 minutes. It’s certainly an interesting pick. Han is bigger than Naruse so he really ragdolls him. I mean we all know Han is a monster but he was really yanking him around with his signature insanely fast wristlocks and throws, and straight up slamming him here and there. Hans wristlocks certainly have more aura than any other wrestlers wristlocks. This is Han as usual – dominating on the ground and you get some of the wildest submissions and escapes you’ll see anywhere. This man was truly a genius at coming up with unique submissions without getting too cute. Naruse is pretty much overwhelmed, but he gives a gutsy performance. He already loves the spinning back open hand strike and just tries to barrage Han early, but Han would catch him constantly. He does come up with some counters here and there, and Volk lets him have a moment knocking him down with a liver shot. There’s a great nearfall from a cross heel hook with Naruse desperately trying to escape and coming up limping after barely making the rope. He gets one last hope moment throwing some more body shots but Han spins him around for an easy tag. This was a Volk Han special, and the fact that it was pretty much a midcard bout against a much lower ranked opponent speaks volumes to how good Han was that even such a throwaway match would end up feeling special.

Yoshiko Tamura vs. Aja Kong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thSUqf6hgJo

Classic Aja trashing, if you like the Chaparita Asari match you will also like this. Tamura throws the kitchen sink at her to try and stop the monster. Tamura was putting major force even into her slightly goofy flying cross chops. The backfist that Aja nailed her with looked harder than many Kos in MMA fights. Check it out for a hard 2 minute fight.

2026 Matchguide #3

 

Ryohei Oiwa vs. Yuya Uemura, NJPW 8/16 

This is the first New Japan main event I've checked out in a long time. My first impression is that they both look like Tanahashi clones. Okay, that's the most cynicism you'll get from me. The first 20 minutes of this are worked like a classic 70s or 80s match and it's fantastic stuff. They absolutely knew what they were doing. Getting into headlocks, trying to escape from headlocks, preventing escapes from headlocks, avoiding getting-counter headlocked and so on. Textbook stuff and they absolutely knew what they were doing. They mixed in a few more modern movements like a cartwheel or banderas, but for what it's worth, it was genuine classic pro wrestling in the vein of Flair/Steamboat, Dory Jr/Briscoe or Animal Hamaguchi/Mighty Inoue. So they basically did the thing that nerds like me were wishing for, and it rocked. It was genuinely some of the most compelling opening work to an NJPW big match I've seen in god knows how long. It felt like it mattered, because they were really hanging on to those headlocks and armlocks. Both guys acknowledged the squeeze too. I particularily enjoyed Oiwa selling his aching jaw after being tortured in the headlock for 5 minutes or so. The armdrag work and switches were spectacular. Just when I thought this was on it's way to becoming the greatest singles match NJPW has had since the Hashimoto era, the middle portion happened. There was a flimsy looking DDT, and both guys started no-selling. They continued to work tightly with a few neat spots and moments of genuine struggle, but it threw me off a little. You just worked hard to make people believe in a side headlock in 2026, and now you're getting up right away after a german suplex? That stuff doesn't compute with me. That said, they got back on track and settled for a finishing run in which they basically tried to tap each other out with the most basic holds and it was really compelling. I liked how they hit the shoot headbutts like battering rams, Fujiwara style. The overhead armdrag was also an amazing spot. All is well that ends well so I thought it was a lovely match and a great piece of work from both guys. They solved the modern big match problem where nothing really matters until one guy hits his finisher, and that's a big achievement. I'd thought this kind of wrestling would remain in the underground in promotions like Mutoha with matches like GENTARO/Arai or even Koichi Wakikaido doing experimental headlock-only matches in his dojo. Seeing it on a big stage like this and totally having the crowd by the balls the whole way was amazing in itself. Alas, even my complaints about the middle section are just a minor nitpick. The match had the excellent build and struggle of a classic match and the balls to try something completely different. The praise is deserved and New Japan might actually be on a good track now with these two at the front.

 

Ai Houzan vs Mio Momono, Marvelous 2/5

More of a psychological test than a wrestling match. Houzan has been kind o a perennial loser, so in this one Momono dares her to fight and they just stand in front of each other and hit each other as hard as humanly possible for a few minutes. Would've been pretty awesome stuff if they had integrated it into a bit more of a match but it was still pretty harrowing pro wrestling.
 

Hiroto Okubo & Tetsuya Goto vs Ayato Horiuchi & Hiroaki Taniguchi, Shi-En 3/21

Neat indy match where they went out of their way to make every section interesting. Horiuchi is a promising looking thickly built rookie who sticks to the basics and has some cool judo-style moves. Goto and Okubo sure to make him eat some hard dropkicks and stomps to the neck. Taniguchi is a fun powerhouse cleaning house and press slamming a guy to the floor, and I was surprised that when Horiuchi tagged back in he actually kept selling that neck. It made the finishing stretch a lot more dramatic as they put some good struggle even into basic stuff like a German suplex. 

 

Masanori Kanu Watanabe vs. Super Taira, Sportiva 5/6

I always thoroughly enjoy Super Taira whenever he shows up, and this was no exception in his streak of interesting little matches. There was some quite good shootstyle matwork to begin here. Watanabe dominated the action, locking in a beautiful Mariko Yoshida-esque armbar, until Super Taira was able to catch him in an awesome llave in a Volk Han-like moment. During standing Watanabe tried to cave Taira chest in with some insanely hard kicks. Dig Tairas focus on trying to catch Watanabe with a flash pin, and he does throw the greatest european uppercut in the world. I guess the last couple minutes could've been a bit more interesting as basically Taira survived a bunch of offense before catching Watanabe slipping on a banana peel. 

 

Rio vs. Sakura Mizushima, AWG 6/13

Nice little match, the kind that made AWG so fun last year. Mizushima avoiding Rios shoulderblock early on and cutting her down with some stomps to the shoulder before stretching her was some basic but very fun pro wrestling. Subsequent action was also quite good due to the building up of basic things like a body slam as important and showing some struggle. I like Rio, despite being bigger and packing more of a punch still came across as the underdog against the more experienced Mizushima who had a few believable ways to stay in control. The build to Rios Fireman Carry Slam was also excellent. Also really liked Mizushima coming back by catching Rio with a drop toe hold and then just stomping away at her. I always like a good stomping.

 

Karl Malenko vs. Tim Bosby, PRODUCE 8/3/2026

Probably my favourite Karl match since his return. Bosby reminded me a bit of an Alexander Otsuka type here, a burly amateur wrestler in a singlet who will suplex and banana split the fuck out of you. He actually looked like a worthy opponent for Karl, putting some pressure on him. Karl again showed little sign of his age and came up with some great counters and transitions. I loved how Bosby initially seemed to dominate on the ground with his powerful takedown only for Karl to tie him up in seconds. Bosby hurling the older guy around without holding back was great. Deadlift backbreaker was an awesome spot. I kind of expected something bigger after the Bosby strap drop ( he needs to learn to time those a bit better) but they wrapped it up with a nice finish. 

 

2026 Matchguide 

Bob Backlund, champion of the WWWF

  

Bob Backlund vs. Antonio Inoki, NJPW 7/27/1978

A bonafide old school 60 minute grappling epic. Backlund goes a bit howdy and doody doo at the first lock up, but otherways he’s quite serious. The atmosphere here is tremendous with folks breaking out into “INOKI” chants constantly already in the first fall, even when Inoki is just locking in a headscissor. The wrestling is what you expect: Simple, occasionally sprawling into amateur-esque sections, both guys wrenching holds and working intense pinfall attempts already in the 1^st fall. Inoki is good at keeping things exciting and unpredictable, occasionally mixing in some rope running, hitting a slick hip toss, going for an enzuigiri out of nowhere because why not. There’s a moment where Backlund goes for his signature one arm lift and Inoki lands a bit awkwardly but they segue right into Inoki launching Backlund across the ring and into a big back body drop. The first fall is just Inoki catching Backlund in an octopus hold as he comes off the ropes. Just the kind of neat unpredictable thing that would keep folk excited.

2^nd fall continues in a similar vein with more mat wrestling and holds that have a clinical feel to them. You have your classic stuff like abdominal stretches into indian deathlocks. The crucial moment comes when Inoki hits this amazing Russian Legsweep to counter a side headlock and then follows up with a dropkick. Backlund is able to fire back with a dropkick of his own, but he is so knocked silly he can’t follow up. The crowd goes nuclear at the prospect of Inoki potentially winning 2-0. Inoki goes for a butterfly suplex but Backlund forces to the ropes like the move means death. Inoki keeps going for the offense and Backlund hits a butterfly suplex of his own! He lands another absolutely beautiful one that launches Inoki across the ring, but he is too damaged to make a proper cover. Some intense pinfall attempts occur before Backlund finds his groove and drops Inoki with an absolute beauty of an Atomic Drop to win the 2^nd fall.

The 3^rd fall begins pretty tentative and both guys trying some legwork. They eventually get to the 70s style bomb dropping. You get your abdominal stretch reversals, a belly to belly suplex over the ropes, Backlund totally nuking Inoki with a huge shoulderbreaker, even Inoki hitting a big knee off the top in a great moment. There’s also a bit of slow down and it feels not quite as tight as it should be. Inoki locks in a short arm scissor that feels so blatantly filler just to kill sometime before inevitable time limit draw, with the ending almost feeling rushed as it felt like they had to get in a bunch of stuff in under a minute, though there’s a really cool big bump on the floor.

There’s some slowdown here and there, but it’s a really enjoyable old school grappling epic, made to look as legit as can get by 70s standards.

Bob Backlund vs. Hussein Arab (Iron Sheik), WWWF 6/4/1979

They start with the 70s territory version of shootstyle, with both guys doing some great looking greco roman pummeling and struggling over takedowns. Sheiky baby does a nice job of keeping the crowd engaged through selling frustration and complaining about having his tights pulled and such. The MSG crowd is super into everything, just hollering with joy when Sheik is thrown out the ring during a scramble, and reacting with big indignation when he goes to pull the hair. They move into a lengthy section with Hussein putting some weardown holds on Backlund. They do a good job keeping things active even when working holds, and Backlund had some cool pin attempts as hope spots. After a bit of this kind of work they move back into back and forth holds, with Backlund getting the crowd excited here and there by doing things like hitting a hip toss or a flying headscissor because why not. At one point he goes to dive off the middle rope but the ropes are so loose he kind of struggles and catches a kick from the Sheik on the way down. Sheik goes to attack the arm bit, but it doesn’t really come together for anything and Backlund doesn’t sell it in particular. One cannot overstate how into it the crowd is. When Backlund goes for an arm stretch like 20 minutes in, they still happily count along as he tries to pull Sheiks arm off his torso. It’s looking like quite the clinical match. They do classic abdominal stretch reversal spot before they both bust out some suplexes, they are quite exhausted now but still kicking out at 1 for everything. Then, Sheik goes for a chair, beating on Backlund right in front of the referee, which is somehow not a DQ? They keep going with the 70s version of a nearfall-ladden 50/50 finishing stretch, Sheik even diving off the top rope and missing a big splash, Backlund getting the chair, Sheik trying to load up the boot only to have it used against him moments later. One cannot overstate how overjoyed the crowd was with Backlund, any babyface in the world now would kill to be this beloved. It could have been tied together a bit better, as it does feel meandering especially in the middle and the blatant chair stuff was a little baffling, but for what it’s worth they both worked hard and displayed wrestling in raw form. Both when it comes to the hold stuff as well as the spectacle with the gimmicks and big nearfalls and an engaging heel vs. face story.

Bob Backlund vs. Pat Patterson, WWF 7/30/1979

Alright… you want heat? This match was pure undiluted heat. A total house of fire. An inferno, even. Patterson tries to attack Backlund with the belt to begin with – WWF always loved belt shots – but Backlund avoids him and starts throwing him around like a laundry bag with these amazing body slams. Just launching him across the ring. Backlund goes to work an armbar and just proceeds to put Pattersons arm and shoulder through the wringer for like 15 minutes. It’s never boring – Backlund is really good at finding different things to do while working the arm. Stomping on it, grinding his elbow in it, dropping legs. Patterson tries a few different ways to fight back and bumps around for Backlund some more. You get some more amazing looking Bob Backlund bodyslams and your 70s staples like hip tosses and flying headscissors. Pattersons shoulder bump into the post was probably the highlight. Patterson finally manages to turn it around tossing Backlund over the top rope. Backlund comes back up with a bad leg and Patterson does some basic but vicious looking stuff smashing his knee into it. I liked how Backlunds attempts at comebacks became increasingly savage – smashing Pattersons head into the mat, punching at his bad shoulder. They both keep selling the damage to their arm/leg respectively. Essentially this match is a limb work lovers dream. All the while there is insane heat and the crowd going nuts for everything. Backlunds attempts to comeback keep getting hampered by his bad leg. Eventually there’s an amazing spot where Patterson gets his leg caught in the ropes and Backlund goes to town on him stomping the crap out of him. Another posting later Patterson is bleeding and Backlund starts throwing punches. Amazing spot where Backlund is able to hit his big atomic drop but can’t continue because of his bad leg. Patterson busts out the brass knuckles and some distraction finish occurs, proving those have been a thing for a really long time. It was all good though, not the kind that makes a match look meaningless. Regardless, the selling and layout here were insanely good. Both guys did a tremendous job and had the crowd in the palm of their hands. Perhaps Backlund could have sold a bit more desperately when he was in Pattersons leglocks but that’s a very minor issue. An all around great match that displays top notch selling and psychology to the tee while getting the most out of largely basic wrestling moves.

 

Bob Backlund vs. Greg Valentine, WWWF 2/19/1979

This is a one hour draw.  Bob Backlund was building one hell of a body of matches in 1979 alone. Valentine has an amazing cocky smirk to begin and he disrespects Bob by handshaking his little finger before the bell. The match begins how you'd expect - with Bob hanging on to a side headlock, though they do keep it pretty lively. Backlund comes off the ropes and leapfrogs over Greg, catching him with a dropkick with Valentine doing his signature timber sell. They do a neat thing where Valentine tries to get out of the headlock by grabbing the leg, and Backlund monkey flips him over. Wild how you can see things in a 47 year old match that you've never seen before. Valentine starts going to town on Backlund earlier than you'd expect, trying to break him down with his knees and elbows, Greg Valentine style. I could watch Valentine beat the bricks off of someone with elbows and knees all day, everything he does looks so bone-crushing and awesome. He hits this brutal knee drop to the stomach that looks like something Super Dragon would do, and displays some creativity putting Backlund in an indian deathlock so he can drop some more knees and elbows across his spine. When Backlund comes back, he ends up putting Valentine in another side headlock. Which is to be expected, as they are only about 10 minutes into this 60 minute bout.

They keep going at this rhythm - working and wrenching holds, building up to explosions. Backlund as usual is really good at cranking back on holds - the crowd counting along when he goes for the rowing arm stretch. Between the holds they do a really good job of mixing things up and keeping it interesting without resorting to anything too trite. I especially dug all the missed attacks which were really well timed. Backlund takes some spills out the ring, which always feel like they could now be a turning point in the match. He also busts out some things like a sunset flips over the ropes which you don't expect to see in a 70s match. It's rock solid work oozing with old school charm, just feels slightly slow here and there as they keep going back to holds to kill a few minutes and they aren't always super interesting. They do some neat selling - Valentine slapping his own hands to get blood circulation going while in an armlock, Backlund also doing a nice job acknowledging some damage to his arm, but nothing overarching. Of course, you have the freakish spot where Backlund lifts Valentine up with one arm. 30 minutes in Backlund hits a huge bodyslam across the ring followed by a hard dropkick. This freak of a man just had endless stamina.

About 40 or 45 minutes in Valentine finally starts to get something going when he starts working Backlunds legs and trying to go for the figure 4. GREAT spot where Backlund hits the atomic drop but his leg gives out, seems to be a signature sell from him. They last 15 or so minutes are absolutely boiling hot as they make everything look like an epic struggle. Valentine holding on for tear life to resist an irish whip (into an abdominal stretch of course) , Backlund trying to gut it out to hit his suplexes and escape the figure 4. Valentine looks pretty fucking tough here surviving everything Backlund throws at him. Backlund throwing punches at the last minute was also pretty epic. The most oustanding thing here is that these guys pretty much never missed about - they were 100% on the whole time. You can say that they may have slowed down working some holds but they were never lazy with them. Just a bunch of basic, but ultra-tight believable work that came together beautifully, and that's where the art form really lies doesn't it. A great entry to the canon of old school epics.

Some 1980s New Japan

Super Strong Machine vs Akira Maeda, NJPW 8/20/1987

Pretty badass match. Machine is awesome here, facing an overwhelming challenge but trucking on and beating the shit out of Maeda with his straight forward pro-wrestling offense. Watching them wrestle here it’s hard not to think this late 80s New Japan/UWF influenced style is the best stuff ever. There’s intricate grappling, and a general caginess that makes everything really interesting. Great selling from Machine early on as he was quickly limping from Maedas attacks while Maeda was still strutting around confidently. Maeda would constantly get the better of Machine on the mat, and start to destroy him with kicks when standing, so watching Machine close the distance and trying to put Maeda through the wringer with punches, nasty short kicks and headbutts was pretty great. Maeda seemed to be holding back a little early on but once Machine really gets him fired up Maeda would just try to tear through him with spin kicks. Couple great moments including a few awesome counters down the stretch including Machine rolling out of an armbar and locking in a hammerlock to hit the Evil Windmill Suplex which totally ruled, and then we get Machine trying to gut it through his destroyed shoulder. Just really really good pro wrestling.

Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura, NJPW 12/6/1985

30 minutes of great old school pro wrestling. This kind of chess match NJPW style which is not quite shootstyle but done with the same sense of seriousness and spontanity may just be my favourite style of wrestling. What they do is fairly basic without much flash save for one or two moves, but they do it all with such spirit and my god do all these guys make basic stuff look awesome. It never feels like they are just going through the motions. There’s also some cool creativity like Kimura coming down on Inoki with a flying stomp while Fujinami had him in a sharpshooter because why not, the goal is to crush them. First half was pretty much an exercise in all 4 guys always doing something interesting and keeping the crowd engaged. Did I mention the crowd is white hot for this and constantly catching fire just for Inoki or whoever tagging in? It’s the 80s baby. Sakaguchi is always really cool to watch as he comes across as such a monster. There’s a bit of legwork on him that feels slightly wasted but I really liked how he resisted the figure 4. Second half was peppered with a few epic standoffs including Inoki throwing punches at Fujinami and Fujinami spiking him with an awesome suplex, the crowd rallying big behind Kimura while Inoki kept locking in Octopus Holds with the precision of an expert grappler. Kimuras leg lariat may be my favourite piece of offense ever. Pretty great ebb and flow here, anytime it would seemingly die down they would bring the sparks back up with something big like Sakaguchi absolutely launching a guy with a backdrop suplex, Inoki hitting out of nowhere enzuigiris or trying to pry guys apart with Octopus Holds. The last few seconds was right on the money with Fujinami going for the kill with the Dragon Suplex on Inoki and Inoki resisting with all his might. Simply but highly effective pro wrestling.

Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura, NJPW 12/12/1985

More great wrestling very much in the same vein as the above match, and to think they did both these in less than a week is frankly ridiculous. Lots of more great exchanges here, exhilarating pace, still no-nonsense while constantly turning up the heat. I thought it was not *quite* the house of fire that the earlier match was but it’s not much less. However, this one does have an actual finish that is built to in pretty great fashion as Inoki gets caught in a figure 4 and when Sakaguchi tags in his bad leg gave out and Fujinami and Kimura, hungry to get the win did a number on his leg. You rarely see 2 guys working as a team to just destroy a guys leg like this. When Inoki tagged back in he seemed to be limping too and was desperately throwing punches. Really good build to a finish without just going through a bunch of nearfalls. All in all, there’s plenty of really good action to enjoy here and you want to see it just for the conclusion.

Keiichi Yamada vs. Tatsutoshi Goto, NJPW 3/26/1986

You would associate NJPW young lions stuff with black trunks and ultra simplistic wrestling, but they were both wearing bright blue tights here and doing lots of different stuff. With Goto its more of a fun oddity to see him fresh faced and busting out things like a crossbody or chest kicks – I would have thought he was simply born with a mustache and a shit stirrer. As we all know, young Yamada is yoked as hell and bristling with energy. The matwork here they do is really nice – really torturing each other with basic things like a facelock and moving through their holds swiftly without losing the competitive edge. Goto in control is a bit drawn out, though he does crown Yamada with an absolutely harrowing piledriver. He would also do things like hit a powerslam straight into an armbar because that was how things were done in 80s New Japan. You could tell Yamada was a boiling hot talent and the crowd was already buzzing for him even though he hadn’t quite hit his stride yet. It’s fascinating to think he might have joined UWF and become a peer of Tamura or something. His matwork was great obviously, and he also busted out a ridiculously backflipping flying chop. Really liked how Yamada seemingly couldn’t hit a comeback, then survived Gotos (already beautifully deadly) backdrop and was able to score a flash pin for the win. Is it a surprise the top of the cards of 80s New Japan was some of the most fierce and best stuff ever when even the lower card stuff was this good and competitive?

The Trials of Hiroyoshi Tenzan

  

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Shinya Hashimoto, NJPW 2/4/1995

I have been kinda dismissive of Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Thought he was a not super interesting guy with some goofy offense, based on a few mishappen performances in the 2000s. However, over the years my tastes may have changed, so maybe he deserves another look from me. I’ve grown to see the point of his persona – he is not meant to be a kind of refined martial artist like other NJPW peers, he has more of a raw primitive vibe i.e. he is just a tough savage beast that will try to chop your head off. It’s a trope in Japanese wrestling that harkens back to the likes of Thunder Sugiyama, and Tenzan at the very least brings an awesome mullet.

This, for starters, was a good fucking match. Well, no shit, it’s a Shinya Hashimoto big title match. It’s physically impossible for those to be not good. That said, Tenzan brings his unique personality. He’s young, mullet not quite at peak level yet, but he has already embraced his persona of a guy that just never stops moving forward and trying to hurt his opponent with blunt force. It’s a really cool dynamic as Hashimoto is such an artist with the way he uses his kicks. There is some really great use of basic strikes here. Hashimoto would just absolutely blast him with kicks right under the chin. Tenzan would look outgunned, but he could occasionally lunge forward and chop Hashimoto down with something because he’s still a dangerous animal.

Hashimoto brings some nice intricate stuff to the match, almost working like Regal has he goes to take out a leg with a slick drop toe hold, or doing this ridiculously great armbreaker from a sleeper hold. He is great at bringing a chess match feel even to a slugfest, some cool strategic feeling and mirroring like when Tenzan is able to catch him with a spin kick. He also had this great DDT/Kimura thing that spiked Tenzan right on his shoulder.

In the end, strategy can’t stop a charging bull. The audience can’t quite take Tenzan seriously as a challenger, but then he is able to drop Hashimoto with some rough as fuck bombs, including a powerbomb that looks like it could kill any regular man. Suddenly Hashimoto has a busted nose and looks in trouble and the crowd goes white hot. Hashimoto busts out this awesome sprawling armbar counter to Tenzan and nearly takes his head off with an absolute beauty of a high kick because that’s what Hashimoto does. Tenzan gets absolutely spiked on a brainbuster because that’s what it takes.

Verdict: Another absurdly great Hashimoto performance. Tenzan was pretty cool too although this would definitely be filed as Hashimotos work.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Shinya Hashimoto, NJPW 8/3/1997

They are in the semi finals of the 97 G1, so there is quite a bit of wear and tear on both mens bodies already. This was like watching two battleships launching missiles on each other until one would sink, the way Hashimoto would take Tenzans spin kick really sells that. Hashimoto was a freaking tank here, and the crowd by now had taken to a liking to Tenzan. The hissing noise really emphasizes his animalistic vibe, like you are entering a pit of snakes. Hashimoto was really kicking the shit out of Tenzan here, to the point where Tenzan would get a bloody mouth, while Tenzan kept chipping away including hitting Hash with a shoot headbutt. Hashs arm/shoulderbreaker was downright demonic. Chono ended up distracting the referee, proving shit like that already happened in 90s New Japan, but Tenzan ended up getting his foot stuck in the turnbuckle somehow when he went for his diving headbutt in what may have been the defining moment of the match with how silly and yet dramatic it was. Tenzan is able to soldier through though just based on his sheer toughness bombing Hashimoto into oblivion with diving headbutts.

Verdict: Hashimoto is still by far the cooler wrestler, though Tenzan gave a good fight completely lacking any finesse and getting by on sheer toughness.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Kensuke Sasaki, NJPW 8/3/1997

The finals of the tournament in the same night. Tenzan had just taken a monster beating, really looking like even just walking is painful, but fuck does he take to the fight to Sasaki. The way he just moved forward right away punching through the standard lock up and going right at Sasaki was awesome. This is like watching two caveman fighting, or Conan The Barbarian taking on some half bull half man creature, Tenzan was unrelenting and Sasaki would try to punch his hard head in. It’s simplistic but it’s molten hot and Tenzan almost kills Sasaki when he comes down with the diving headbutt. Not exactly Baba/Destroyer but delivers in spades if you want to watch two dumb try to smash each other into oblivion in a raw as fuck battle for less than 10 minutes.

Verdict: Tenzan has looked primitive next to Hashimoto, but compared to Sasaki he comes across almost like an artist.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Tatsumi Fujinami, NJPW 7/14/1998

In general, I have loved the 1998 Fujinami big singles match run, but I skipped over this match due to my resentments of Tenzan. Turns out it was a pretty fun match. Fujinami opens with a fast start, then pretty much toys with Tenzan who is not very technically adept. Tenzan is able to get by on toughness and start chipping away at Fujinami with his repetitive offense but also hits a pretty nice calf branding, but Fujinami would keep outclassing him. There were a few pretty nice moments, including Tenzan catching Fujinami in a surprise dragon screw of his own and hitting a diving headbutt to the leg. He even teased hitting a Dragon Suplex on Fujinami which was pretty outrageous. Fujinami kept slipping into chokes and by the end he had outclassed Tenzan again, even slapping him silly like he was disappointed in his poor performance. It was definitely a bit long and it could’ve been much better if either guy had decided to actually sell their leg but in the end the point was to show that sometimes a challenger can completely shit the bed in a big match.

Verdict: pretty effective Tenzan performance if you believe that his gimmick is that he’s a hapless simpleton with a lucky punchers chance.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Kensuke Sasaki, NJPW 2/15/2004

The first round of a 1 night tournament. We JIP like 2 minutes into a 1 night tournament and Tenzan is bleeding like crazy and Sasaki is just mauling him with nasty shots. What the fuck is going on here. Tenzan comes back and he is just beating the shit out of Sasaki and this is the just the grizzliest thing you’ve ever seen. Tenzan almost kills Sasaki with a scoop piledriver turned into an emerald fusion. I’ve no idea why Sasaki hated Tenzan this match but he keeps biting him and pulling him up and hitting him with insane lariats while Tenzan is losing so much fucking blood. So. Fucking. Bloody. Tenzan fights back hitting shoot headbutts and everything. Sasaki ends up getting distracted by Makabe like the idiot he is and Tenzan is able spike him with another tombstone for the 3 at about 10 minutes. What the hell was this. Visceral as fuck, would it have killed them to show the whole 10 minutes?

Verdict: if this was a match between Kamala and Tully Blanchard or something and even just slightly less violent it would probably be considered a legendary mega-classic. This was fucking sick. 

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yuji Nagata, NJPW 2/15/2004

The same night. Tenzan comes in with a big bandage on his head from the previous match. They lock up, and almost immediately the bandage comes off. They mat wrestle a bit, and the blood already starts flowing out of Tenzans face. It gets all over Nagata. Tenzan frustrates Nagata, until Nagata has enough and starts kicking him in his bloody face. Nagata may be no Hashimoto but he knew how to precisely kick somebody in his wound. Great drama here. Tenzan is able to survive with sheer toughness and angry shoot headbutting Nagata some. He’s able to mount a string of offense, until he’s finally able to land a moonsault which legit Kos Nagata and allows Tenzan to go to the final.

Verdict: Pretty great stuff here, no question about it. 

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Genichiro Tenryu, NJPW 2/15/2004

The finals. What do you think happens in this match? Tenryu goes for the kill right away kicking Tenzan in the head with a rolling kick then circles him like a shark smelling blood, kicking and punching him in his bleeding face. Lord, has anyone ever lost as much blood in a single night as Tenzan did here? He looks like he’s lost enough blood to kill a person and Tenryu smacks him so hard the blood flies off. Tenzan survives some inhuman punishment and Tenryu making him eat shit on the floor with a northern lights bomb from the motherfucking apron. But Tenzan is inhumanly tough and the people keep hissing for the mongolian chop. Tenryu gets shoot headbutted and by sheer resilience Tenzan is able to outlast him and win the IWGP title. I can’t even hate the man for his limitations, he was an animal that night and won it all like a king.

Verdict: What can I say? Tenryu was amazing as usual. Tenzan was basically a bloodbag here but this kind of inhuman toughness deserves respect. This was as great a title win as you can imagine.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, NJPW 3/28/2004

Hey – this is a pretty great match! Of course it’s from the era of NJPW that nerds will tell you sucked but this actually ruled. It was pretty much in full bloom when it cames to mid 2000s blurred-lines pro wrestling meets MMA influence, with Nakamura being the submission artist and Tenzan a really good primitive blunt hitting monster. Nakamura tries to strike early with Tenzan – his knees look really good – but he gets met with Tenzan ramming his head into his face repeatedly. That headbutt to the jaw Tenzan landed may have been the greatest thing he ever did. He would also stomp on Nakamuras head pretty hard. Nakamura would try to choke him out and armbar him, and he had some really good submission entries. It turns into a Tenzan onslaught with Nakamura just trying to tap him out, but it’s really compelling, high end stuff. For this kind of pro wrestling meets PRIDE this was excellent.

Verdict:  Probably Tenzans single greatest performance that I've seen. Almost too refined for him, felt like match needed some blood and a cracked skull or something.

The Shinya Hashimoto/Keiji Muto Trilogy

     Shinya Hashimoto vs Keiji Muto, NJPW 6/5/1997

Fucking masterpiece of a wrestling match, there’s no other way to put it. So much wrestling is focussed on action-action-action, but this was like a great suspense flick with the most intense ending you’ve ever seen. Right from the go it’s clear what both men are all about, Hashimoto wants to kick, and Muto wants to get underneath him and take out his legs. What follows was some of the best defense-based and slow building pro wrestling ever caught on film. Neither guy was willing to make the slightest mistake and this made all their exchanges really interesting. There is so much great stuff going on. Almost none of what they do would fit into a highlight clip or GIF and yet it’s wrestling of the highest caliber. I love how even a basic knee that Hashimoto throws when locking up sets up a thunderous kesagiri chop that immediately draws a gasp from the crowd, with a panicking Muto firing back right away with a messy hitting solebutt and taking down Hashimoto immediately, with Hash not even wanting to allow a basic headscissor being locked in. Watching prime Hashimoto from a 2026 perspective is insane because I am used to seeing guys allowing themselves to be hit, asking the other guy to hit them, even laying down so they can be hit in a bizarre game of contrived tough man posturing etc. With Hashimoto, Mutoh absolutely does not want to be hit by anything. He wants absolutely none of those neck chops and none of those kicks. So even though this is a pro wrestling match, it feels like an MMA fight with an expert striker vs a takedown artist. And whenever Hashimoto unleashes it’s like the thunder of an erupting volcano. Absolutely great Hashimoto performance as he’s awesome as a monster that wants to strike but is getting worn out. Muto was also absolutely great here. He did a lot of great stuff, such as a really sweet legscissor takedown, I also really liked how he teased a dragon screw but instead went for his flashing elbow. Even his goofy handspring elbow looked great as he hit it so fast with absolutely no breathing time. There’s this great bit where Hashimoto rages on the outside after being frustrated by Mutohs tactics so Mutoh cockily offers him the re-entry. Hash gets back in and he has this amazing look on his face, like he is going to kill Mutoh. And seconds later Mutoh is on the mat getting the shit kicked out of him. The whole match was full of great little moments like this and it just kept building and building to a molten hot finale. I can see why some fans were more drawn to the All Japan stuff that was chock full of cool moves while this match spent like 20 minutes building to a dragon screw, but holy shit this is just great stuff on a completely different level. Loved the unique twist on their signatures, Hashimotos revenge leg kick, Mutoh hitting the moonsault to Hashimotos legs, Hash firing away this great last gasp barrage off offense. Really felt like they put their all into this and if that’s not the best a wrestling match can be I don’t know what is.

Shinya Hashimoto vs Keiji Muto, 12/10/1993

Not quite *as* great as the 1997 match, but still a solid stone cold classic. Match was already built around the chess game of takedown artist Muto frustrating Hashimoto and trying to avoid the dangerous strikes. Highlights include Hash shrugging off a surprise attempt at an octopus hold, and both guys going into a judo scramble. I also appreciate that there was no legwork/figure 4 stuff, although Muto really wanted to go for it. Hash throwing leg kicks, daring Muto to go for the leg, and then responding to some gritty surprise headbutts by rushing Muto like an angry bull is why he’s the GOAT. He was also able to make Mutos basic short arm scissor look killer. His response was, of course, to rain punches onto Muto. Hash then got up with blood coming out of his nose and a sliver of blood from his mouth like a slit in his face and you know the fight is on. Second half was quite epic as you had Hash laying devastation on Muto with his kicks and Muto pushing the bleeding Hashimoto to the brink of defeat. Several ridiculously well timed moments. The sequence with Mutoh landing on his feet on the attempted moonsault was an example of something that modern workers probably would have rushed in an effort to force as many moves and reversals into a short sequence as possible, whereas these two were smart enough to slow down enough to make the payoff feel really rewarding. We also get some beautiful Hashimoto wrestling such as hitting a perfect German Suplex on Muto. Hash drilling Muto with a surprise bulldog was also another great unexpected moment. Muto trying to resist the DDT with all his remaining lifeforce only to end up eating the deadliest brainbuster ever may be a top 10 moment in any wrestling match. This crowd was really freaking rabid for Hash’s DDT too. You may say ‘well, it was 1993, times were different, a DDT was exciting…’ but fuck that, these people had already seen Liger and his shooting star press and Tiger Masks shit and whatnot, and here they were flipping the fuck out for a 30 minute match culminating in a DDT because these guys are fucking masters at this.

Shinya Hashimoto vs Keiji Muto, 8/15/1995

‘nother masterpiece between these two. At this point it’s a coin toss which of these matches is the best but fuck, they are all great. This was one was a bit more conventional but still had that strategic, struggle-loaded chess match feel early on with neither guy wanting to get caught. Muto seemed a bit less engaged, perhaps because he was worn down from the G1. Hash catches him a lot early, sprawling on a takedown attempt, catching his jumping savate kick. Even almost turning the tide in his favor by going for Mutohs arm briefly. It’s not quite the same level of intricacy as Muto showed in the 93 and 97 matches but it’s still some pretty damn good pro wrestling. Loved the bit where Hash struggled against a German Suplex so Muto went for the Dragon, and then the Octopus Hold. Pretty damn epic ending with Hash trying to bust Mutos skull with some beautiful high kicks. Man alive does Hashimoto just look like a god when he’s charging up and gathering energy for those kicks. Mutoh seemed dead in the water and was left with a few great desperation counters. It’s New Japan so something like a straight armbar is a totally believable possible finisher to go for. Another epic jumping DDT from Hash ends up spiking Muto causing his bandage to come off with blood streaming down. Doesn’t get more italo western than that when it comes to pro wrestling.

RIP Osamu Nishimura

 

Osamu Nishimura & Keiji Mutoh & Tadao Yasuda vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Yuji Nagata & Junji Hirata (NJPW 10/15/1995)

Really awesome match for a 12 minute 6 man tag. Nishimura isn’t Mr. Muga yet, he’s clad in blindingly silver gear and wrestles a more generic but energetic style. He puts the heat on Hirata early on, and then challenging Hashimoto. Hashimoto won’t tag in for a while, until he’s finally had enough and a hellish vengeance is unleashed on Nishimura as he just gets destroyed but he still hasn’t enough and dropkicks Hash in the back of the head. Awesome. Yasuda is also pretty great here like a more massive version of Taue, sumo rushing people and putting the boots to Hash. Mutoh doesn’t do shit in this match and it’s for the better. I also enjoyed Nagata and Hirata delivering straight forward punishment. But in general this is a really awesome ‘Hash fucks everyone up’ match and another chapter in the book called Why Shinya Hashimoto is the GOAT.

Osamu Nishimura & Manabu Nakanishi vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Masahiro Chono, NJPW 6/5/2002

This is a legendary match in Osamu Nishimuras career, which for some reason has never been available in full until NJPW made it just now available on NJPW World. Bit sad they waited until Nishimuras death to release that, but this is an absolutely amazing match. Namely it is famous because of that moment where Nakanishis leg is injured and he leaves the match, leading Nishimura to remove his boots and turn into a barefoot grappling demon, but there’s lots of amazing wrestling surrounding it. I’ve never been super big on the non-Hashimoto, non-Fujinami side of NJPW heavyweight wrestling, so I was surprised how well Nakanishi, Tenzan and Chono did here. There is some really cool Chono/Nishimura grappling, people don’t think of Chono as much of a grappler but he does have that Lou Thesz heritage and he gets into some pretty interesting stuff with Nishimura. They work this in a very old school, almost Jim Crocket feeling fashion, not as in that there’s a ton of holds or something, but rather that everyone here really works to make the maximum out of basic things such as strikes. I also really appreciated that Tenzan and Nakanishi didn’t do any braindead endless chop exchanges, instead what we got was far more interesting with Nakanishi kind of bullying Tenzan with his own mongolian chops, and an angry Tenzan sometimes angrily shoot headbutting him. First half the match had lots of good stuff, also because I am used to modern wrestling being a trained monkey show even something as simple as Chono working over someone with knees in the corner was refreshingly straight forward. There were a few great moments, in particular Nishimura almost choking out Tenzan. They did a great segment with Nish really wrenching the fuck out of Tenzans neck, and Nakanishi coming in to smash Tenzans head into the mat like a gorilla was just perfect. They also do a nice job increasing the stakes of the match, with Chono going for his yakuza kicks early on and increasing the pressure on Nishimura, while Nishimura ends up taking a big beating. A really good energetic 1^st half that sets up the amazing second half which has the legendary barefoot warrior Nishimura moment, as well as an amazing Nakanishi performance. It feels shameful that Nakanishis performance here is rarely brought up among the greatest ever, but his leg selling really was that fucking good, and him smashing Tenzan to a bloody pulp may be one of the Top 10 greatest moments a match has ever had. Stretch run is absolutely fantastic working the crowd into a frenzy and also has the greatest nearfall for a backslide ever. They really drove the point home going for minimalism and getting the maximum out of the basics, that point is especially hammered home when Chono hits like 10 Russian Leg Sweeps on Nakanishi, followed by Nishimura repaying him with 10 barefoot dropkicks. An enraged Nishimura throwing the referee around and punching a bloody Tenzan in the face is about as good as wrestling gets. Amazing amazing match, I cannot say enough to emphasize how cool this was, just about the perfect broadway, never boring, interesting all the way through with some amazing moments and wrestling hewn in and Nishimura being just the best in his stubborn glory.

Osamu Nishimura vs Kazuo Yamazaki, NJPW 12/10/1995

You look at this match up and think “this sounds like a technical clinic”. But this is 1995, Nishimura is basically a young lion who looks like a lankier version of Muto, and he has not yet become the embodiment of MUGA. Instead of holds Nishimura bitchslaps Yamazaki and then it turns into both guys throwing down, with Yamazaki throwing bombs with his aggressive headbutts and razor sharp kicks and Nishimura throwing hands and blasting him with dropkicks. It’s a fun look at what could have been though MUGA Nishimura is still cooler. Nishimura shocks the crowd with how much he is able to beat up Yamazaki but then he goes for suplex and Yamazaki pulls him into a Fujiwara Armbar which he cranks as far back as I’ve ever seen a Fujiwara Armbar being pulled back for the tap. Just about a 5 minute match but it was really cool and this kind of ‘it can end at anytime’ stuff is what kept NJPW exciting in the 90s.

2025 Wrestling Week 10

 Crea vs AKARI, Pure-J 3/2

Never seen these two before, based on this they are pretty cool. Lots of slick transitions and submissions here, especially from AKARI who seems like a really cool wrestler. Creas offense was more straight forward and punishing, lots of boots to the face, I dug her, she also had a really cool wristlock suplex. The pace and energy here is really good for a mid card match. I didn't like some of the no selling, I think that is unnecessary for a match in the middle of the card, but the finish was pretty nice.


Rydeen Hagane vs Crea, Pure-J 2/2

Really good title match, nice to see that Pure-J is still putting on the real thing. Basically Rydeen Hagane is a big monster and Crea comes at her with all her might. Thought Crea looked really good here, her stiff elbows and boots looked great, and those almost-deadweight suplex on her much bigger opponent were damn impressive. I cared more about that build to a basic German Suplex than pretty much anything in any other joshi big match I've seen so far. Hagane is a credible monster, this is mostly the Crea show but Hagane just nuked her at the end. I didn't like the superkicks, that move is just overused to death, but it's a minor complaint since everything else was good.

Oleg Boltin vs Konosuke Takeshita, NJPW 2/11

Boltin is this beastly Kazakh wrestler. I made the mistake of assuming that he would be like a soviet shooter in  New Japan, but this isn't 1989 anymore and he just wrestles a more generic style with some power spots thrown in, like 2002 Brock Lesnar. This was a bit like something that could be a Smackdown! main event. Boltin knocks him down with a shoulderblock and then Takeshita soon works his arm for a bit to slow him down. Boltins arm hurts so he can't hit all his crazy throws, then his arm doesn't hurt and he hits all his crazy throws. They go into this really trite elbow exchange and some more. There's some fun to be had here with Boltin manhandling Takeshita in riduculous ways. Takeshita is solid but never seems to leave a huge impression on me. His elbows looked off. He's not as good as Crea when it comes to fighting a monster. I think Boltin vs 2006 Fit Finlay would be awesome.

2025 Wrestling Roundup

Koki Kitahara Documentation Project #17

 Koki Kitahara & Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs Shiro Koshinaka & Masashi Aoyagi & Kengo Kimura, NJPW 11/23/1992 - EPIC

The WAR/New Japan feud is such a special occurance in wrestling history. You basically had all these guys, producing multiple excellent matches per month, all ultra heated, at an excellent pace, packed with violence and great moments. This was no exception, just +20 minutes of scrappy unpredictable chaos, guys running in and out beating on each other, throwing uncooperative strikes, getting blindsided and having he fight spill over and so on and so forth. The NJ crowd absolutely despise Kitahara in this, like they totally resent every fiber of his mulleted kick-throwing shitstirring existance, and he is pretty amazing here just bathing in the hatred, cheap shotting guys, disrespecting Aoyagi, getting his nose bloodied and almost dying in a 3-on-1 gang beatdown from the NJPW crew. Everybody in this match is amazing, though. Koshinaka not being afraid to crush peoples faces with kneedrops and punches, Kimura flying in hitting people with his awesome jumping kicks, Ishikawa trying to stomp people to death, and of course Grande Tenryu really elevating the big fight feel of the match. I also loved Aoyagi who was having scrappy violent exchanges with everyone and occasionally hitting people with his cool flying kicks, really having a GOAT "tough aging karate master going all out" performance. The ending is especially cool, as Tenryu tags in realizing he's facing Aoyagi and gets this amazing smirk, but then gets blindsided and destroyed a bunch for the crowd flipping out at Tenryu potentially being pinned by Kimura. Just amazing pro wrestling, so much fight, attrition, hatred, struggle, great timing, and to think this not in the most talked about matches from this feud is mind boggling.

Koki Kitahara & Genichiro Tenryu vs Tatsumi Fujinami & Jushin Thunder Liger, NJPW 8/3/1993 - GREAT

Another round in this great rivalry. Here we get a great 10 minute sprint. The fast paced Fujinami/Tenryu sections rule, with Tenryu immediately bloodying Fujinamis nose with a kick to the face, and Fujinami trying to destroy Tenruys leg. Once again, Kitahara was insanely hatred - just what did this particular fellow do? But he has the audacity to show up with his dopey mullet and sleazy jeans and karate kick people and that is really fitting for this kind of street fight feud. We also get to see Liger in this kind of heated bloodfeud environment which is really fun, he has some great moments including getting into a shotai battle with Tenryu, and in turn getting kicked in the face. At 9 minutes you really can't go wrong with this stuff with everyone bringing lots to the table and the general "anything can happen-"feel of these matches.

Koki Kitahara Documentation Project

Young Shinya

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Masahiro Chono, NJPW 3/20/1987

My god did these two look like legends from the very beginning. I mean, Chono less so, but Hashimoto is pretty much as good as you’ve ever seen him here. They do some really cool matwork, really fast takedowns and tight hold for hold work while moving through everything smoothly, Hashimoto absolutely pelts Chono with kicks, they slap the shit out of each other, the crowd is hot, Chono hits an AWESOME out of nowhere backdrop suplex, Hash works a great sleeper… just great energy in this. Hashimotos suplexes were awesome although I can see why he stopped doing bridging suplexes with his frame. This would be a great match for any two wrestlers, for two young lions this was amazing.

Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono & Keiji Muto vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka, NJPW 7/29/1988

The Three Musketeers unite. Maybe for the first time? This was super heated and action packed because all three young guys basically want to take a chunk out of Fujinami. Fujinami throwing punch combos in retaliation was awesome. And my god does Hashimoto look like a walking badass already. Karate pants, spin kicking people, just being a mean old tank. It's also fun to see these future stars doing some different things from later. Hashimoto hits a crazy spinning gutbuster, Chono does a spin kick. Mutoh was already himself, grinding the match to a halt with a meaningless Figure 4. Aside from that this was a house of fire. Really awesome to check out.

NJPW vs. UWF Handheld Matches

 

Yoji Anjoh & Tatsuo Nakano vs. Masakatsu Funaki & Akira Nogami, NJPW 2/28/1987

What a sick upload. This was 4 young guys going close to 20 minutes doing awesome grappling and kicking the shit out of each other. My god do all these guys look great hitting the mat, just hitting awesome throws and super tight submissions left and right. Anjoh and Nakano already show shades of their later shitkicker personae and Funaki even in his black trunks and on a grainy handheld looks like a star in the making. The second half was really great because black trunks rookie factor is at play, so dropkicks and boston crabs become edge-of-your-seat stuff. Funaki running in to break up submissions by blasting people with dropkicks felt epic and while they largely kept the action basic they mixed in some sweet highlights, for example there was an awesome armbar counter to a backslide, Anjoh getting thrown to the outside by a dropkick, a New Japan guy running into a surprise high kick etc. The scrappy moments where guys would kick or slap the shit out of each other were fantastic and super heated. Great great stuff, this period where you saw New Japan guys mix it up with UWF guys regularily may have been the peak of the promotion.

Yoji Anjoh & Tatsuo Nakano vs. Masakatsu Funaki & Akira Nogami, NJPW 3/26/1987

Very good rematch in the same way as the first one. Anjo and Nakano were really a pair of pricks here brutalizing Nogami with knees and kicks. They did the same things as in the first match in some parts but the general scrappiness and improvized-feeling structure made it still feel different enough. Great heated finish and I dig how the UWF guys keep refusing to run the ropes.

Black trunks rookie matches

 

Shinjiro Otani vs. Manabu Nakanishi, NJPW 3/23/1994

Man, is 1994 Otani a spectacular black trunks wrestler. He would tear up Nakanishi in the ground, and catch him with surprise spin kicks in the face when they stood up. This was damn good for rookie opening match. Otani pretty much leads the match, which is a bit weird considering Nakanishi is already absolutely massive, but Otani does such a job grounding and stretching Nakanishis leg that you buy it. Nakanishi is a decorated amateur guy so he has no problem doing matwork and throwing big suplexes. Right at the beginning Nakanishi snatches and throws Otani like he weighs nothing. There was this really amusing bit where Otani does a fancy spin escape out of a leglock, later Nakanishi tries the same thing but Otani cuts him off, you ain’t taking Otanis spot! Second half was great as both guys slapped the shit out of each other when they stood up, then you get Nakanishi planting Otanis with some huge power moves resulting in Otani desperately trying to slip underneath and go for leg submissions. Otani countering Nakanishis torture rack with a firemans carry was really rad and like something Tamon Honda would do. Nice finish, too.

Akira Nogami vs. Osamu Matsuda, NJPW 1/6/1990

Matsuda is El Samurai. This was really choice and feels like kind of a hidden gem. Starts really solid with some basic matwork before Matsuda cranks up the intensity trying to pop Nogamis shoulder with a bunch off different armlocks. Awesome moment where Matsuda locks in a chickenwing crossface with Nogami fighting for dear life out of it and then putting on a damn camel clutch. Both guys are at the stage where the crowd buys a camel clutch or boston crab ending the match and that makes the last third of this really awesome. They build to a bunch of cool spots including Matsuda hitting a fucking stunner and Nogami wiping him out with a huge suicide dive that the crowd went bonkers for. “Any move can end the match” was felt strongly here and it made an awesome little juniors match.

2002 MOTY Project Update #22 - Yuji Nagata Edition

 Yuji Nagata vs. Kazuyuki Fujita, NJPW 10/14/2002

Great Inokiism style clash of the titans. Fujita has the gloves and you know what that means. Just the right mix of tense and a crazy fight. Nagata avoiding Fujita shooting in early and hammering him with knees was a great opening scramble. Fujita is a great freaky monster who will beat your fucking brains in, and Nagata may have had his finest moments ever in this match. He certainly had the crowd when he seemed done for and then made his big rally trying to kick Fujitas brain in. Real „kill or be killed“ feel to these kind of matches, and this was one heck of a Tokyo Dome main event in that style.

Yuji Nagata vs. Takayuki Iizuka, NJPW 12/23/2002

Really nice veteran match building to a Sleeper Hold. These two hitting the mat is surprisingly good, even knowing Nagata could be pretty good when he wasn‘t clowning around. I liked how they teased Iizuka working the legs but Nagata got the advantage back and Iizuka had to resort to locking in surprise sleepers. I love any kind of match that has an outmatched guy trying to pull off a miracle reversal and Iizuka was really good at his thing here, while Nagata makes a convincing ace.

 

Yuji  Nagata vs. Bas Rutten, NJPW 7/20/2002

Most intense 8 minute IWGP title match ever? Aside from his slightly awkward Shining Wizard, I thought Bas was really great here. Every single thing he did looked like it could plausibly end Nagata. Nagatas comebacks against Bas' onslaught were wonderful. It's tough to stay credible against a legit monster like Bas, but Nagata made me believe. Great stuff.

2002 MOTY List

2002 MOTY Project Update #21

 

Wataru Sakata vs. Yoshihito Sasaki, Z1 12/29/2002

Great BML style match. Sakata may have been the best junior in 2002 simply because he just goes for the kill all the time. You buy a random knee or low kick from him as knocking someone out, and on the ground he‘ll just start grinding the other guys face. Sasaki was just the right mix of cautious and aggressive. Him trying to control this dangerous shooter with headlocks and swinging away wildly with open hands and pro wrestling style crowbar shots was really great. Him randomly trying to grab an argentine rack has to be one of the greatest hope spots I‘ve ever seen. And Sakata was just a killer.

Carlos Amano vs. Meiko Satomura, GAEA 11/17/2002

These two only need about 5 and a half minutes to have an excellent match. Great constant scrappiness throughout, and there was some absolutely fabulous submission and counterwork throughout. Amano looked great busting out deadlift suplexes and some murderously stiff headbutts. Satomura fired back with her trademark kicks, and because of the sprint format every nearfall was great. Utterly brilliant finish. It annoys me to no hand there‘s no lengthy singles match between these two as veterans, as the stuff they do together is always so unique and undeniably great.

Osamu Nishimura vs. Yuji Nagata, NJPW 8/8/2002

At points this may have been even better than Nishimura vs. Takayama. Nishimura is this guy who just kind of gives everyone the same challenge, and Nagata was super game to grapple it out with him and threaten him with his dangerous submissions. First 15 minutes of this or so were a pretty sublime grappling epic as it‘s so fascinating to watch Nishimura control and counter his opponent. Nagata is really decent mixing it up by throwing some strikes and shoot suplexes into the mix. The match could‘ve been Top 10 level if Nagata didn‘t decide to complete bury Nishimuras legwork. Instead they went with Nishimura surviving Nagatas high end modern offense and countering with his 80s moves, which was still quite great. Nishimura was damn near superhuman in 2002.

 

2002 MOTY List

Assorted Japanese Handhelds

 Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Masanobu Fuchi, AJPW 3/24/1992

This channel is really dropping gem after gem. The crowd for this was super hot, and kind of split between their love for Misawa and wanting Fuchi to pull off a huge upset. Naturally Fuchis reaction to becoming a fan favourite is being a dick, like he gets a big pop and the first thing he does is go over and grind his elbow in Misawas face. This was all about how Misawa could blow away Fuchi in 45 seconds if only he got to unleash his elbows but Fuchi works a smart match evading his downfall for as long as possible. Really nice basic work of Fuchi controlling early and putting over Misawas elbows as absolutely devastating whenever they connected. A cool cut off happens and Fuchi starts stretching and twisting up Misawas leg. Misawa does his cool stoic "acting unphased but hobbling across the ring" selling. I loved how Misawas first move after the comeback is the facelock which is a move that is established as being able to beat Fuchi in 1992. They even protect Fuchis finisher! And the crowd went nuts for those nearfalls. I kind of wanted Fuchi to make another big comeback rally, but I always want more Fuchi. Really good match, anyways.

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Shunji Kosugi, NJPW 11/19/1984

Young lion Hashimoto footage is kind of scarce, so any find like this is welcome, and against the mysterious Shunji Kosugi no less! This was a typical NJPW young lion affair, lots of groundwork. The trademark viciousness of Hashimoto was not all over the match but it was present, at one point he hit a vicious kick combo. He also busted out a really fast belly to belly suplex, and really grinded into holds with his bodyweight. I thought this was gonna get really good in the last minute when Hashimoto turned up the heat hitting some gnarly headbutts and bitchslapping Kosugi, but then Kosugi just kind of pinned him.  Still it's very nice to see all the basic ingredients of what made Hashimoto so great being in place in his first year of wrestling.

2002 MOTY Project Update #20

 

Yuji Nagata vs. Manabu Nakanishi, NJPW 2/1/2002

Surprisingly a really good match. It was all about Nagatas technique and precision vs. Nakanishis hulk strength. You forgot that Nagata can be a really good wrestler. I mean, this felt like a great midcard match rather than a great main event, but his wrestling skill is not to be denied here. Nagata shooting in an hitting a shoot exploder on an uncooperative Nakanishi was pretty great. Then, you get Nakanishi slowly falling apart while trying to shrug off Nagatas offense. They worked really stiff and Nakanishi is the kind of guy who‘s basic power moves feel like they will destroy you. Nagata desperately trying to avoid the Torture Rack was also really good, so was Nagata escaping only fro Nakanishi to judo throw him immediately. Nagata never came close to being another Hashimoto, but damn he tried the way he was braining Nakanishi with his kicks. Very NJPW-style match meaning it felt like it could end anytime due to the crossover with martial arts, and both guys real skill being a factor. No macho exchanges, just two guys trying to break eachother. I miss this kind of Japanese wrestling.

Command Bolshoi & GAMI vs. Azumi Hyuga & Ran Yu-Yu, JWP 4/14/2002

Bolshoi and GAMI make one hell of a team, and they had their working boots on here. Imagine how dull you have to be to not acknowledge the greatness of GAMI. The paper fan was used sparringly here, in funny ways, and later in the match it even felt pretty mean. The rest of this was chock full of highly intricate wrestling, just both Bolshoi and GAMI rolling out all their technical skill to be competitive with Hyuga and Ran. Just what these tricky, eccentric veterans do best. Ran and Hyuga are the workate queens of JWP and meant to be a higher rank, so Bolshoi and GAMI had to use all their ability. I really liked how Hyuga initially refused to tag out but her situation got increasingly desperate as GAMI and Bolshoi kept isolating and making dents in her. Then, she kind of botched a comeback move so Ran refused to let her tag out, as if she was saying „that was luck, go make a real comeback.“ The switch from GAMI and Bolshoi dominating to Hyuga and Yu-Yu standing tall and running over their opponents with their high end suplexes and strikes was really good and we got a fantastic ending run built around underdog GAMI and Bolshoi. Says a lot about how good two wrestlers are that they can rock two entirely different roles in the same match and make it believable and really good. Excellent match overall, very joshi flavoured, but it totally hit the right spots.

2002 MOTY Project Master List

2002 MOTY Project Update #17

 36. Kensuke Sasaki vs. Yoshihiro Takayama, NJPW 8/3/2002

Insanely violent fight in front of a hot crowd. The psychology here was caveman level simple. Sasaki is able to throw off his opponent at first but Takayama re-establishes himself as the monster. Eventually it just devolves to both guys stubbornly trying to crack each other. The level of stiffness provides more than enough entertainment though, and Sasakis wild flailing plus things like Takayamas full weighted knee caving into Kensukes chest were far more entertaining than the usual elbow fest. No idea how those lariats didn‘t break Takayamas jaw. Finish was simple but super well done and Takayama punching Sasaki in the back of the neck was fairly crazy. This was easily Sasakis most exciting match of the year I‘ve seen so far.

35. Yuka Shiina vs. Yoshiko Tamura, NEO 10/22/2002

 Interesting match. Shiina was on fire, throwing out one crazy submission reversal after another. By far the best I've seen her look. She was hellbent on forcing a tapout from Tamura. Yoshiko Tamura is someone who frustrates me as she clearly is a competent pro wrestler, but she has this tendency to throw it worthless ace crushers and DDTs that serve no purpose. This match was short and mat based, so it ends up one of the better Tamura bouts of the era. The match was almost all submissions, but they walloped each other with some kicks between the holds. Tamuras cross legbar reversal towards the end was pretty great. I need to see more of this Shiina. 

34. Kengo Mashimo vs. Sambo Oishi, K-Dojo 4/20/2002

I think this was Mashimos second match ever. It was one hell of a match for a second ever match. There were a couple damn great exchanges here. Tenacious grappler Oishi ruled, too. Mashimo wasn‘t fully embracing his later dickhead character, but when it was time to throw kicks he beat the shit out of Oishi. Some outstanding submission work. There were some pro style touches but they were executed in a really explosive way and integrated perfectly. Really made me want to get both guys back catalogue. Best 6 minute match of the year?

25. Koki Kitahara & Johta vs. Nobuyuki Kurashima & Masayuki Mineno  (CAPTURE 12/8/2002)

Exactly what Capture promises, 4 guys just beating eachother silly in savage ways. The Mineno/Johta sections were really fun with both guys throwing fast hands and kicks, all ultra stiff of course. Then you had the heavyweights – both Kitahara and Kurashima looked like they were twice the size of either Johta or Mineno – bullying the little guys around. Kurashima is a MUGA boy and he mostly sticks to matwork here, altough he does punish opponents with some brutal throws and inventive submissions. At one point he did a Backlund lift from an armbar into almost a One Winged Angel. Kitahara was an absolute bastard once again, stomping on Minenos face and sucker punching him from behind. Match is really good shootstyle in parts but starts breaking down into chaos towards the end with the referee losing control over who is legal and who isn't, so you would get Kurashima tackling Kitahara while Mineno would try to kick him in the face. Still this is what Capture promise and each fall had a great finish.

2002 MOTY Master List

Going through Shodates Best Matches of the 90s List Part 5

 The List

231. Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Shinjiro Ohtani vs. Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka, NJPW 10/11/1999 

This has to be among the stiffest matches I‘ve ever seen the NJPW juniors division produce. Seriously, they went out of their way to make every second of this as unpleasant as possible. Kicks, smacks, Otani facescrapes, Takaiwas level, everything was executed at maximum violence. Even something like a Takaiwa elbow drop landed with a smack. Loved the pissed off exchanges involving Otani and Kanemoto. Everyone here was catching hands, though. You know it‘s great when even Tanaka is laying it in and taking beatings. The match didn‘t have some kind of arc or story, it was just one violent exchange after another. It builds to some huge sequences before the finish, though. Takaiwa looked great pounding dudes into paste with his multiple powerbombs and death valley drivers. Greatest junior match in the Dome ever? It was certainly the loudest.

 

234. Mayumi Ozaki & Cutie Suzuki vs. Dynamite Kansai & Sumiko Saito, JWP 8/9/1992

Ah let‘s see… fast pace, hot crowd, insanely stiff, simple moves…? It‘s the early 90s baby~! Seriously pro wrestling just doesn‘t feel like this anymore and it‘s sad. This was hard working and exciting. Sumiko Saito was a rookie who didn‘t stay around for long, but she looked tenacious here. She was paired with Kansai who as usual acted as a super asskicker, so you got a match built around Kansai kicking ass when she was tagged in, and Saito getting her ass kicked when she was tagged out. As usual Ozaki looks good working against Kansai, and Cutie throws some beautiful suplexes. The stretching holds actually felt meaningful in this due to Saito fighting hard and trying to evade the rookie beatdown. Couple really good moments here. Notice how epic the superplex reversal felt due to both womens selling. This was 2 Count Rules for some reason and while it didn‘t really factor into the psychology much it made their athleticism more impressive I guess.

 

31. Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs. Georgi Kandarahki, RINGS 7/13/1993

Young Yoshihisa Yamamoto takes on Georgi Kandarahki… Kandealaki… Keandelaki..?? Ahh to hell with it! Kandarahki has boxing gloves, a singlet and boxer trunks. He looks like a basketball player decided to be a boxer. Yamamoto doesn‘t have gloves. If you can get over the silliness of that, this was pretty fun. Kandarahki throws lots of nice combinations and this had some heated moments where he came close to punching out Yamamoto who fired back with spirit. Obviously Yamamoto was gonna dominate on the ground but they do a pretty decent job making it not too obvious or drab. This went 5 rounds (OF COURSE!!!) and didn‘t drag and was pretty fun overall. So… the 31.th best match of all of the 90s? Probably not but I enjoyed discovering this for Yamamotos fire and Kandarahkis cool punches.