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.

Shinya Hashimoto in ZERO1

   

Shinya Hashimoto vs Hirotaka Yokoi, Z1 6/5/2003

This was pretty freaking awesome. It’s Hashimoto vs an aggressive hard hitting shooter in a Korakuen Hall main event, so that shouldn’t come as a huge surprise… still, this a gem. Opening establishes the story of the match nicely as Yokoi came at Hashimoto with a barrage of wild punches but get knocked back by a karate chop. Hashimoto was a total killer here, basically every single thing he did was awesome. Cutting through Yokoi with extremely well timed strikes, trying to break his leg with punches, catching him with a Fujiwaraish leg hook… really had the feel of a wily veteran putting a faster younger fighter through the wringer using experience. So Hashimoto is not just a monster, he is an intelligent monster. Even basic things like a kneedrop looked insanely violent. Yokoi was swinging his fists fast and hard at Hash but kept getting caught by Hashimotos counter kicks and occasionally a shoot heabdutt to the face. At the same time, it seemed Yokoi could beat Hashimoto anytime if he just punched him hard enough or locked in a submission. As such the whole match was intense. Another chapter in the book of Why Shinya Hashimoto is the Greatest Wrestler of All Time.

Shinya Hashimoto & Kohei Sato vs Katsuhiko Ogasawara & Akio Kobayashi, Z1 3/27/2003

Fuck yeah Pro Wrestling vs Karate! Ogasawara breaks a baseball bat with a spin kick before the match to establish dominance. This is really the dream match of every 8 year old kid who loves pro wrestling and karate (now you can guess what I was like at 8). Just 4 men leveling gritty beatdowns on each other for 13 minutes with hardly a breather. The first Hashimoto vs Ogasawara exchange is so awesome as you really get the feeling that Ogasawara was pushing Hashimoto to break out faster and more agile strikes than he usually does. It’s rare Hashimoto faces someone who matches him when it comes to killer strikes but fuck Ogasawara was destroying people here. He looked insanely precise and killer here just stabbing through people with his axe kicks and piercing gut punches. And Hashimoto would always time his strikes and put people down with a big swing. Kobayashi feels very sleazy with his oily hair and colour mismatched taped hands. You look at him and you immediately want to see Hashimoto stomping his guts out and and that’s pretty much what happens. Kohei Sato is kind of the red headed step child here – he’s outmatched against the striking expert. When Hashimoto tags him in, Sato would gleefully take the chance to lay some hard kicks into an exposed Ogasawara. Later we see him going for a running move only to crotch himself in the ropes like a goof ball. One big Ogasawara punch to the gut sent Kohei crawling to the floor clutching himself like he just got his intestines rearranged. Though to his credit Sato fights hard dropping karatekas with some hard suplexes that looked like they had minimal cooperation. It all builds to Ogasawara taking a huge beatdown as Hashimoto just decides to punch him in the face until he starts bleeding. That is actually what happens – Hashimoto nails his signature double stomp, landing on Ogasawara like a fat cartoon dog would land on Tom from Tom & Jerry, then taking a look at Ogasawara and deciding he wants this old man to bleed, and a couple measured knuckle punches to Ogasawaras face later he is indeed covered in blood. The finish is Sato putting the pressure on a seemingly dead Ogasawara only to get knocked out by a lucky hit like the goofball that he is and then crawling all over the referee in confusion. It’s a sudden ending but it makes sense given the build, Ogasawara can just KO anyone with one precise blow. I would’ve hoped this would set up some kind of epic Hashimoto/Ogasawara bloodfeud but instead they only tagged together for the rest of the year because japanese wrestling is like that. I wrote a lot of words about this one but to sum it up they hit each other with lots of really hard punches and kicks and it was great.

Shinya Hashimoto vs Shinjiro Otani, Z1 12/24/2003

I don’t think I’ve seen this match before, and it’s not something that’s brought up much, which is a bit odd because it’s two of the greatest Japanese wrestlers stiffing the daylights out of each other in a big match. Undoubtedly the action here was simplistic, but rather great. These guys really know how to get the most out of everything. During the opening grappling, which was classic New Japan style, simple but believable, they really made basic things like going for an armbar feel meaningful and putting some grit and struggle into it. Of course, Hashimoto is this really towering presence and everyone is thinking if Otani can somehow overcome the king. Everybody knows Otani will probably not tap out to a kimura from Hashimoto 3 minutes into the match but just the way Hashimoto would really crank would let everyone know that he was putting Otani in trouble. Otani knows this so he goes and slaps the shit out of Hashimoto. They stiff the hell out of each other, spirited Otani gets the advantage, he facewashes Hashimoto, and to top it off puts a kimura on Hashimoto for some nice mirroring. Hashimoto would in turn increase the viciousness again, kicking Otani all over the ring, until Otani is the one crumbled in the corner. Otani stopping Hashimotos beastly onslaught with a messy headbutt to the shoulder is so great because it’s simple, believable and Hashimotos selling immediately lets you know that he’s in trouble. Not just because he’s in pain and screaming, but also because he stops using the arm and instead opts for his spinning legsweep in a great spot. This is why Hashimotos just the fucking best, whole match was done in a fairly simple fashion but just oozing with aura and everything meaning something. I could see some people being unhappy with the finish but I thought it was just fine since I am tired of 2.9 ending runs anyways. In a way that would have gone against the story they were telling. Tall that and they absolutely stiffed the daylights out of each other, goodness gracious.

Shinya Hashimoto vs Alexander Otsuka, Z1 7/13/2001

This was kinda like the pro wrestling version of those PRIDE fights with an insane size mismatch. We don’t really think of Otsuka as ‘small’ because usually he works like he’s such a beast, but he does look quite small next to Hashimoto here. This is close to a squash but it’s memorable. Basically Otsuka tries to get something in on Hashimoto and just gets mauled. Hashimoto would shrug off Otsukas early attempts at takedowns and then proceed to try and pulverize him with vicious kicks. Just destroying his shoulders and arms with bone breaking kicks and karate chops. Otsuka looks really tough not backing down against the beast and he gets a few cool hope spots but is quickly destroyed. Highlight was clearly Hashimotos gritty crowbar shoulderblock that blew Otsuka away, and the finishing submission which looked like a killing. Still you want it to be a bit more epic considering it’s Hashimoto vs Alexander freaking Otsuka but sometimes you can’t have it all.

RIP Tadao Yasuda

 

Tadao Yasuda vs Tatsumi Fujinami, NJPW 8/13/1999

Great little sprint from the G1 Climax. I love how it immediately establishes the tone of the G1, everything matters. That is felt very strongly here just from the way Fujinami would move about the ring before locking up, really putting over Yasudas massive size and lumbering danger. They don’t waste a second in letting you know what they are all about, Yasuda rushing with sumo palm strikes, Fujinami always trying to grab a leg and twist it off. I love how Yasuda started pounding away whenever Fujinami tried for the dragon screw, and his own modified dragon screw ruled. Nifty finish. More pro wrestling should be like this.

Tadao Yasuda vs Kensuke Sasaki, NJPW 8/10/1999

Kensuke Sasaki in 1999, already a former IWGP champion. Tadao Yasuda, middle aged, late starter at wrestling, and rocking a sleazy mustache. But fuck all that, this match is all about Yasuda being an explosive surprise. Sasaki goes down for a Yasuda shoulderblock, proving Yasuda is indeed bigger and more massive, and then Yasuda proceeds to stomp a mudhole in him. Really dug Yasudas of the sumo palm strikes in this, even getting the better of Kensuke during a strike exchange, and of course the big one that he caught Sasaki right to the mush with. Sasaki looks really contemptful like he is pissed that this old sumo fart just gave him a beating. Even picking him up for a torture rack just to overcompensate. The crowd is all there rallying behind Yasuda for a possible upset and while it’s not anything deep it’s really fun big boy pro wrestling.

Tadao Yasuda vs Keiji Muto, NJPW 8/14/1999

More Yasuda G1 magic. Normally there is no way Yasuda stands a chance in hell against Muto, but it’s the G1, and Muto is super banged up and barely gets a thing going. This allows Yasuda to really give Muto a stomping further banging on his leg, with an enthusiastic crowd willing him all along the way. Yasudas facial expressions are so great, he’s like a man praying to god when he locks in those boston crabs, like he really wants that shit to work. Yasudas jumping elbow drop where it looks like a fridge was dropped on Mutohs leg is really great. I also love them teasing Yasuda losing in the same way he did to Fujinami earlier, and Mutoh does pull off a really really choice finish. Can’t ask for much more from a 5 minute match.

Tadao Yasuda vs Satoshi Kojima, NJPW 8/13/1999

The biggest match for Yasuda in this G1, because Kojima is about the one guy in his block that he has a chance of beating. As such the match is less about Yasuda the Underdog and more Yasuda standing tall and beating the dogshit out of Kojima with his awesome straight sumo palm thrusts, with Kojima selling in amazing fashion. Kojima had a bit more of a punk heel vibe here, snarling at the audience and trying to do damage to Yasudas limbs, which I think suits him very well. While the build of the match is not mind-blowing greatness it’s a lot of fun, serious pro wrestling enhanced by their eccentrics. Yasuda totally makes the second half of the match with his awesome selling and mannerisms, and the crowd gets behind him in a big way. Kojima slipping behind and struggling for a german suplex is a good example of why slowing down can sometimes make things a lot more epic. Kojima trying to damage Yasudas shoulder, with Yasuda trying to hang on and somehow get the win felt pretty epic, almost like a Hashimoto match. It made sense and paid off the story of the match. Loved Kojimas unique arm submission and his cluster attack at Yasudas shoulder felt like some of the best work he’s done, and Yasudas fire and trying to gut it out was just pro wrestling perfection, felt so raw and real. Yasuda brings such a fun vibe, while his Inokification was good stuff it would have been really interesting to see had he kept up what he was doing here into the 2000s.

Tadao Yasuda vs El Gigante, NJPW 5/1/1994

Not many match ups spark my interest anymore these days. But Tadao Yasuda vs El Gigante? Fuck yeah I’m watching Tadao Yasuda vs El Gigante. Yasuda is very at the beginning of his late blooming career. He has black trunks and lacks his signature mustache and looks a bit like an illegitimate son of Takashi Ishikawa and Osamu Kido. But boy he already has something to him. Enough that this massive crowd breaks out in a big ‘Yasuda’ chant to will him into taking on the Gigante, and popping big when Yasuda just goes into a sumo stance that the giant promptly mocks. Gigante looks comically huge – even next to the very large Yasuda. His build is just that of a fairytale giant. Not much happens here, but you get Yasuda sumo palm rushing Gigante to the crowds delight. Gigante takes some shoulder blocks from Yasuda – in a way that made me think he had no idea how to take shoulderblocks. Yasuda eye rakes to get on offense and goes for another sumo rush in the corner but Gigante stops him with a big boot and calls him a ‘fucking sumo’. The brain claw seals the deal. Guess they were really trying to do something with El Gigante here, but Yasudas triumph would come later.

Tadao Yasuda vs Tatsumi Fujinami, NJPW 2001/8/5

Yasuda lost miserably as an underdog just 2 years before, but now he got the Inoki power upgrade and is a dangerous shooter type, so the dynamic is completely reversed. Fujinami looks very aged but has grown out his curls to mid length just to flex on everyone with his hair genetics. Yasuda throws Fujinami and works him over with some pretty hard knees on the ground and pounding on his head with punches, but Fujinami can always hit a dragon screw and turn the tide. They even reference the finish from the 1999 match in a cool spot. Similiar affair as before but with vastly different roles and it’s cool.

Tadao Yasuda vs Kazunari Murakami, NJPW 2001/8/10

Inokiist dream match! Man these G1s just used to be packed with awesome matches. This is more about Murakami than Yasuda, though Yasuda makes for a cool elder tough guy to the rabid pitbull that is Murakami. Murakami may be the greatest ever at these evil glares and sudden violent explosions. It feels almost a bit like a Wahoo vs Johnny Valentine match. Murakami is so aggressive and unhinged that Yasuda becomes the underdog and has to try and surprise him with something, though I loved how he just threw Murakami over the guardrail.

Tadao Yasuda vs Yuji Nagata, NJPW 6/4/2001

By 2001 Inokiism was fully there, and they both have MMA gloves for this. Much like all your best Tadao Yasuda matches, this is short and sweet. It’s basically nearly full blown shootstyle. Yasuda is big and hard to takedown but tenacious Nagata manages to do it anyways. Nagata bitch slaps Yasuda in the ropes and this triggers an angry sumo rush and signature long legged stomping from Yasuda. However, the more energetic Nagata is able to suplex Yasuda on his neck and then quickly put him to pasture with a series of kicks. Impressive showing for Nagata.

Tadao Yasuda vs Manabu Nakanishi, NJPW 8/6/2001

Killer monster battle with a quick pace. Nakanishi is a total caveman here and he is mauling Yasuda with angry palm strikes and throwing him around. Yasuda can always catch someone with a punch though or choke them out. He is a bit of a weird guy to book as a submission artist but it kind of works. Early 2000s NJPW ‘anything can finish’ factor makes this really compelling and I loved the nifty details, such as the way Nakanishi would use a lariat to the leg to set up his stretch muffler, or hit a spear to Yasudas bad leg, as well as the finish.

Tadao Yasuda vs Yuji Nagata, NJPW 8/8/2001

Nagata is like a hyena here mauling a bigger lion. He’s just all over Yasuda, who is totally backed into a corner, as Nagata takes him apart with relentless takedowns, faster kicks, and trying to tear his arms out. All Yasuda can do is try and go for a choke and maybe punch Nagata in the face and hope for the best. Intense stuff that works mostly because you buy Yasuda could come back with just one submission. There are few wrestlers in wrestling history who had that kind of believability in a basic front choke or sleeper, and for Tadao Yasuda to be that guy is just incredible. Another intense little match and Nagata looked like a killer.

 

Tadao Yasuda & Shinya Hashimoto vs Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue, ZERO1 4/18/2001

 Awesome match. It's early Zero1 vs NOAH so we get heated interpromotional action filmed at glorious dutch angles. This was all action in the best way, just 4 guys constantly going at each other. The early Yasuda vs Honda match up is pretty great, just two big guys pummeling each other and trying to go for chokes, with Honda throwing the bigger man around, even hitting a sweet dead end later. Obviously Hashimoto is really great here and Inoue is great as an outmatched guy throwing everything he has at a monster in sheer desperation, these guys just did this match perfectly as Hashimoto ends up mauling Inoue into oblivion with Inoue unable to continue. Yasuda does look great in this kinda match and he does bust out the old sumo palm strike even with the gloves. It's a bit of a different side to him than the cowardly heel shooter stuff and he is quite suitable here.

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.

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.

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.

Assorted ZERO1

 

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Riki Choshu, ZERO1 2/29/2004

I had no idea this match happened. I can kind of see why it was largely forgotten – these two are broken down, and they do a short match, without an overly dramatic ending, at a time when most tape nerds where hungering for NOAHesque epics. But fuck, the match between these two was still happening. The first 6 or 7 minutes of this is guys stubbornly trying to crack eachother, really trading brutal kicks and chops where the other looks like he really doesn‘t want to get kicked and chopped. There‘s not even a back bump but it‘s really compelling. Hashimotos shoulder selling ruled and Choshu has some nice kicks to the shoulder. Hashimoto clutching his shoulder after the Scorpion lock was a nice touch. These two are really the kings of these kind of ultra-simplistic, nasty, uncooperative strikes exchanges. Eventually, after the opening established that both guys are broken down and hurting, Choshu gets Hashimoto up for a superplex. And Hashimoto takes that superplex in really brutal fashion, really barely getting over, landing on his shoulders. It feels like a big spot, and then Choshu hits another, even crazier superplex where he nearly spikes Hashimoto. Really probably the most „Damn he killed him“ a superplex has ever felt in a match. Eventually it gets to the usual Choshu stubbornly trying to take Hashimotos head off with lariats while Hash refuses to go down. Choshu sold the finish in a weird way, which is probably the reason this doesn‘t get talked about match. But damn I was amazed by these two guys just cracking each other.

7 vs. 4 Elimination Match: Shinya Hashimoto & Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yoshihito Sasaki & Shinsuke Z Yamagasa & Kohei Sato & Hirotaka Yokoi & Osamu Namiguchi vs. Riki Choshu & Tomohiro Ishii & Takashi Uwano & Ichiro Yaguchi, Z1 12/14/2003

Extremely fun elimination match which was just a wild spectacle. Everyone jumping in and getting eliminated real fast, seconds get involved, all building to the epic Hashimoto vs. Choshu faceoff. Every single exchanges was on the money, you had the black trunks guys throwing beautiful suplexes and dropkicks, Yokoi punching people in the face, Takaiwa crowbarring people, etc. Ishii got to look tough as he does. Last Hashimoto/Choshu showdown was short but super intense, both guys just wasting each other with brutal punches and kicks. That low kick Hashimoto threw to take out Choshu has to be among those great subtle things that end up looking awesome that Hashimoto just has a thing for.

Fugofugo Yumeji & Takao Ohmori vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Mitsuhide Hirasawa, Z1 2/17/2008

About the rawest 90 seconds in pro wrestling you will ever see. It‘s Z1 vs. NJPW, Nakanishi and Hirasawa rush their opponents to start. We get Yumeji trying to stand up to Nakanishi who‘s just a big old tank. Fugo tries to scramble his brains with those crazy jumping headbutts he does and Nakanishi punches him in the throat then just turns his lights out with one of the crazier lariats I‘ve ever seen. Harrowing.

Assorted NJPW Handhelds

 Shinya Hashimoto vs. Masahiro Chono, NJPW 3/1/1992

Chono isn't super compelling, but he has two moves that are really over and will occasionally hit back hard, and Hash is the fucking GOAT. This had a slow buildup, and while Chono doesn't bring more to the table than any random guy, I always enjoy Hashimotos grappling because he is such a beast. He executes something like a drop toe hold or belly to belly suplex with a ton of snap. Obviously the whole match built to the eventual escalation and when it comes Hashimoto is just an absolute force. The whole slow start is just to get the crowd buzzing for Hashimoto eventually snapping and stomping a mudhole in Chono, and that he does, bloody hell. There is a great moment where Chono absorbs the beating and tries to fire back but just gets overwhelmed, establishing Hashimotos hopelessly superior striking. Hashimoto puts such a one sided asskicking on Chono the crowd really senses Chonos only chance is to try to hit a Yakuza Kick or STF when the chance arises, so whenever Chono gets a glimpse of an offensive run they just go absolutely nuclear. Chono just eats one brutal kick to the chin and spine after another, he was eating such a beating that you buy him just wanting to stay down, but Hashimoto keeps pulling him up. The build to the STF was perfect as the first time Chono goes for it  he misses the toe hold, second time Hashimoto buries his face in the mat to avoid the facelock. Hashimoto eating Chonos boots was really great, it's such a simple move but Hashimoto makes it look like Chono is trying to kick down the Berlin wall. Match was sprinkled with some awesome, unexpected violence, such as Hashimoto elbowing Chono in the nose, Chono headbutting in the face, and at one point Hashimoto hitting a chop where it looked like he tried to stab his hand through Chono. Of course Hashimoto is really great at going from being an unstoppable monster to hanging on by a thread and being pushed to his limit. Amazing match, and it was basically all Hash.

Koji Kanemoto vs. Jushin Liger, NJPW 8/16/1992

Fun match where young Kanemoto gets a rub going 15 minutes against Liger. Kanemoto already looks like himself. He's still doing Tiger Mask spots, but he was also being a prick connecting Liger with some hard kicks, and Liger pays him back dearly with some brutal shotais and almost ripping him in half on a camel clutch. Super fun finishing run with Liger busting out random moves like a diving elbow or dragon sleeper for credible nearfalls.

2002 MOTY Project Update #12

 Kohei Sato & Ryouji Sai vs. Hirotaka Yokoi & Wataru Sakata (ZERO1 5/23/2002)

Stiff, uncooperative shootstyle pro wrestling. Apparently this was Yokois first match ever and he looked good right from the get go. Whenever Sato & Sai got too uppity he would start throwing punches. I also loved how he kept blocking Sais irish whip attempts and, once he had Sai prone, ran the ropes himself and blasted him with a huge dropkick. Sakata is at his best when he acts like a dick and there was plenty of that here. I also liked how he acted like he was a class above all these greenhorns. There were some brutal saves in this match aswell. Sai took a big beating, getting bloodied by a Sakata spin kick and punched in the face by Yokoi. Sato & Sai were effective underdogs here, never getting in too much offense, and when they got something it would hit with a thud.

Wataru Sakata vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (ZERO1 5/3/2002)

Sakata had the vibe of someone who was just getting the hang of how to pro wrestle here, but after a somewhat tentative opening this turned into a shockingly good match. Takaiwa has been efficient against shooters and this was no exception. Sakata had it all over Takaiwa here, basically making him his punching bag, working submission counters and throwing him around with massive suplexes. Takaiwas only chance was to crowbar Sakata into oblivion. Muscling Sakata into the Death Valley Bomb may have been Takaiwas finest moment ever here. We get lots of brutal lariats (obviously), but Takaiwa really earns his salt eating one nasty kick from Sakata after another, getting double stomped and almost submitted a couple times. Awesome jaw breaking finish.

 

Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka vs. Yuki Ishikawa & Katsumi Usuda (ZERO1 5/3/2002)

BattlARTS vs. ZERO1 feud continues. And this was a real good match! I mean, that shouldn't come as a surprise, but I was expecting something fishy to happen here. But nope, they get to do their thing for 15+ minutes. Plenty of hate, stiff shots and neat moments, of course. There was lots of back and forth, altough nothing egregious. I guess this was the Z1 guys giving a shot at working a BattlARTS style rhythm. No shootstyle matwork besides a few counters, but lots of nice snug work. Tanaka was pretty efficient working with the BattlARTS dudes and Ohtani kept the crowd into it with his charisma.  

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Nathan Jones (ZERO1 1/6/2002)

VAST ENERGY. This match was a total freakshow, but had far too many great moments not to love it. After working a lithany of martial artists in the 90s and being the king of the Tokyo Dome, Hashimoto has retired to his own remote island to live out his vision of what pro wrestling is supposed to be – some weird combination of Memphis and RINGS. Broken down 2000s Hashimoto is still a seriously great pro wrestler, and him destroying this freak of nature here was damn impressive. Jones really laid into Hashimoto who sold the beating huge. This also included Jones working an iron claw that Hashimoto sold like his skull was about to get crushed, Hashimoto and Jones working 70s Mighty Inoue/Andre spots, bearhug etc. Jones was a mixture of wooden and awkward and impressively athletic, he had this huge elbow drop, flies over the top rope, impressive leaping clothesline etc. And Hashimoto really lays into him too, hitting every part of the body with a thud, trying to find the weak spot. Hash chopping the shoulder while Jones was trying to hit lariats was pretty awesome, other great moments include: Jones powering out of Hashimotos armhold attempts, Hashimoto chopping away at the throat as well as his body shot combo, Hashimoto coming up with a bloody lip, a borderline exhausted Hashimoto locking in a basic leglock that ends up inescapable for Jones etc.

 Naoya Ogawa vs. Shinjiro Ohtani (ZERO1 3/2/2002)

Big awesome spectacle. Ohtani rushes Ogawa kicking him in the face, and Kazunari Murakami is ringside causing trouble. Ogawa has his haters, but to me his greatness is undeniable as he is pretty much the best possible japanese Goldberg. When hits the first judo throw on Ohtani he just drills him into the mat, and when he follows up kicking Ohtani he looks like a killing machine. He looks like he will destroy a guy in 2 minutes, but his selling is such that it always looks like the other guy can believably make a comeback. I also love how he took a german suplex with his big lanky frame. Ohtani of course rules punching Ogawa in the balls and selling the beatdown huge especially the last STO where he was just laid out as if he had his neck broken.

Wataru Sakata vs. Kohei Sato (ZERO1 6/27/2002)

Okay now, seems like Sakata was really getting it at this point. Sato has looked solid all year doing shootstyle matwork, but he wasn't really capable of creating great moments on his own. Here there were a number of great, well timed moments, most of them involving Sakata almost KO'ing Sato. Every movement counted here. Most importantly, Sakata looked like he was ready to snap this pasty nerd in half.

 

2002 MOTY PROJECT MASTER LIST

2002 MOTY List Update #10

 Negro Navarro & Shu El Guerrero vs. Solar & Skayde (AULL 11/1/2002)

Nothing better than a lucha match that starts with about 17 minutes of straight matwork that the crowd eats up. This is one of the earlier Navarro/Solar matchups and what they did here was pretty different from what they would do later, altough it was all great. This is also one of the better Skayde showings I've seen as him rolling with Shu is much more interesting than him rolling with one of his skinny trainees. Shu is just so physical, he does this thing where he goes on all fours or tailor seat and dares the other guy to move him. So Skayde puts a nasty toehold on him before going for a rolling stretch. Really really neat stuff that feels competitive. The later portions that had Shu throwing dropkicks and flying clothesines were also pretty great. Shu also hits a really great senton really squishing Skayde underneath, and locks in a nasty arm triangle with the arm trapped. Then Skayde would torture him further by putting all kinds of leglocks on him. The submissions and pins also work as near falls. Finish is between Solar and Navarro and suitably good. This is really a borderline classic, 20+ of high quality technical lucha at it's finest.

Bas Rutten vs. Osamu Nishimura (NJPW 10/14/2002)

One of the more unique matches in wrestling history, it's a kickpadded uncooperative modern day shooter vs. A classy early 70s technician. Rutten was great at pro wrestling no doubt about it, his selling of Nishimuras holds was great (did a better job there than most trained pro wrestlers) and he was basically threatening to KO Nish every single round. Rutten not holding back at all is a big part of why the match worked. Nishimura ruled as usual believably locking Rutten into his old school carny holds or dishing out the european uppercuts. I think this may have been better without the rounds but it had typical european build closer to a german style match (Nishimura spent a lot of time in germany and austria) than british as it had that simmering animosity. Nishimura slowly getting destroyed but getting in Ruttens head was really cool. By the last round they completely ditched the striking and just stubbornly went for the tap out.

Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinob Kanemaru (NOAH 4/7/2002)

NOAH vs. NJ part two. Everyone is on fire! Liger is a no selling douche! Kikuchi is a mad old bugger who will take a chunk out of you without blinking! Clever nutshot spots! Mask ripping! Submissions are important! This match did a great job milking and amplifying the heat of the feud. Lean and strong pace with an emphasis on masks ripped open and nasty elbows from mount, this is the direction japanese wrestling should've kept going. Watch the backstage footage too! 

Shinya Hashimoto & Naoya Ogawa vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Scott Norton (NJPW 5/2/2002)

This is one of those feel good matches you can just back and enjoy every second of it. Basically Hashimoto & Ogawa waltz in and just destroy everything in their path. STOs, nasty kicks and chops and various cool combination moves abound. Norton & Tenzan don‘t stand much of a chance but they try. You get a great little Norton performance as he sells all the nasty chops and kicks he takes to his shoulder in a big way. There is an art to selling in such a way that everyone can emphatize with you even when you‘re a giant muscled up dude like Norton and he had it down. Tenzan also doesn‘t suck! 

 

2002 MOTY MASTER LIST

2002 MOTY List Update #8

Shinya Hashimoto vs Masato Tanaka (ZERO1 3/2/2002)

Tanaka disrespects the belt, and Hashimoto makes an example of him. This is among the greatest squash matches of all time, as Hashimoto looks like an unstoppable killing machine, and Tanaka looks like the gutsiest dude on earth for surviving. Tanaka is „deathmatch tough“ so you buy him surviving all the punishing blows and maybe decking Hashimoto with a potatoe of his own. Him being unable to hold on to a sleeper simply because he took a beating to every part of his body was pretty great aswell. Still this was all about Hashimoto destroying a poor fella. He may be the best ever at utilizing a basic karate chop to look like a badass. 

Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka vs. Wataru Sakata & Hirotaka Yokoi (ZERO1 7/7/2002)

Two shooters demolish a pair of established stars. Really fun uncooperative stiff battle. Tanaka potatoeing shooters is certainly way more interesting than what he is usually doing. Really good babyface performance from him as he absorbed a nasty nasty assbeating, all his throws were really well timed. And Sakata is basically a violent killing machine in 2002. His high knee has become one of my favourite strikes in pro wrestling ever. Yokoi was pretty game as a guy with gloves pounding on dudes. Otani outgrappling Yokoi repeatedly was really fun. Also, that out of nowhere missile dropkick was just amazing and one of the best spots of the year. Yokoi being able to hang with Otani for a bit by beating him silly during the finishing during the finishing section was really cool. The finish itself has Otani rolling out the Dragon Suplex and while a Dragon Suplex is pretty much a transition move now here it felt like you were watching the poor guy get killed.

Shinya Hashimoto & Katsuhiko Ogasawara vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Tatsuhito Takaiwa (ZERO1 8/2/2002)

Plenty brutal match that was characterized by Hashimoto looking great and and Ogasawara having an absolute meltdown, resulting in some gritty highly uncooperative exchanges. Ogasawara seemed too concerned with protecting himself so Takaiwa at one point just starts decking him for real. To make up for the chaos surrounding the karateka, there were some damn good exchanges between Takaiwa and Hashimoto. Hashimoto looked peak level sharp, including busting out some awesome submission counters dropping his full weight on Takaiwas shoulder, and Takaiwa looked great as a gutsy underdog trying to cut through him with lariats. There were some choice Fujiwara/Hash exchanges too altough Fujiwara went to his comedy later.

Ryouji Sai vs. Hirotaka Yokoi (ZERO1 6/27/2002)

Another fun, scrappy, hate filled bout. Both guys were spitting venom and fighting like maniacs. Sai was pretty lively here, way better than the duller Nagata I've seen him be in other matches, he was throwing fists at Yokoi and putting up a major fight. His suplexes ruled. Yokoi aside from being a glove wearing shooter who will batter opponents with punches and chokes has really fun mugging facial expressions here. I loved all the non-clean hit strikes. Best 5 minute match of the year?

 Shinjiro Ohtani & Masato Tanaka vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Katsuhiko Ogasawara (ZERO1 9/16/2002)

This was pretty much 4 guys potatoeing each other hard to great entertainment value. I am digging Ogasawara, as anytime he's in the ring guys crank up the intensity and really crowbar him across the ring. Ohtani is especially nasty in this. Ogasawara also dishes out some pretty great looking kicks here. Tanaka looked damn good here, as his exchanges with Hashimoto were reminescent of their singles match. Tanaka tried working the leg, and he is quite good at basic things like shooting in for a takedown to get a leg, and then Hashimoto would feel disrespected and just maul him. The sports entertainment moment with Tanaka turning on Otani and leaving the match was stupid and prevents this from being higher on the list, although the nasty 2 on 1 thrashing Otani ate after that was one of the more harrowing pay offs to such an angle I can remember.

 

2002 MOTY Master List

2002 MOTY List Update #6

Low Ki vs. Bryan Danielson (RoH  3/30/2002)

  Not as great as the JAPW match, but still insanely tightly worked, stiff pro wrestling that blows away all the current wannabe shooters (and everyone else too). They mostly struggle over holds while pounding the daylights out of eachother. Kis stiffness was just crazy as he would rough up Danielsons already bruised face with out of nowhere kicks. At one point he just grabbed Bryans head and went loose with Kawada kicks sending him to the outside. Most of this match was both guys fighting over holds or working eachother over with stiff kicks and chops. Ki blocking a Dragon Suplex only to be thrown with a back suplex was like something out of 80s NJPW. I also loved how Ki, after choking the air out of Danielsons lung would immediately follow up with double stomps to the stomach. Unfortunately Danielson made an easy comeback soon after that and the finishing stretch was not as great as the body of the match as they mostly stick to throwing big old bombs back and forth for like 10 minutes. Still, match felt like a classic in large parts. 

Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NOAH 4/7/2002)

NOAH vs. NJ part two. Everyone is on fire! Liger is a no selling douche! Kikuchi is a mad old bugger who will take a chunk out of you without blinking! Clever nutshot spots! Mask ripping! Submissions are important! This match did a great job milking and amplifying the heat of the feud. Lean and strong pace with an emphasis on masks ripped open and nasty elbows from mount, this is the direction japanese wrestling should've kept going. Watch the backstage footage too! 

Shinya Hashimoto & Naoya Ogawa vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Scott Norton (NJPW 5/2/2002)

  This is one of those feel good matches you can just back and enjoy every second of it. Basically Hashimoto & Ogawa waltz in and just destroy everything in their path. STOs, nasty kicks and chops and various cool combination moves abound. Norton & Tenzan don‘t stand much of a chance but they try. You get a great little Norton performance as he sells all the nasty chops and kicks he takes to his shoulder in a big way. There is an art to selling in such a way that everyone can emphatize with you even when you‘re a giant muscled up dude like Norton and he had it down. Tenzan also doesn‘t suck! 

Antifaz/La Fiera/Safari vs. Averno/Mephisto/Zumbido (CMLL 1/11/2002)

his was given plenty of time. Cool 10 minute opening fall with Safari looking especially slick, nice rudo beatdown with plenty of elaborate double times and some more heated than usual exchanges between Safari and Mephisto, culminating in Safari hitting a sick dive that Mephisto failed to catch properly, which only increased the intensity. The main reason I'm adding this though was La Fieras awesome performance. I didn't know he was even still around by 2002, but he looked like he had aged just right here. Basically acting like Tenryu, working as "I've been doing this for 30 years and I'm hurting in place I didn't even know existed, but I'm still gonna kick the shit out of you". He hits all these graceful kicks and takes some big bumps. Finish was charming and the crowd went wild for it.

 2002 MOTY Project MASTER LIST

2002 MOTY List Update #5

 Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Yoshinari Ogawa (NOAH 9/7/2002)

IT SAYS GHC CHAMP ON OGAWA'S SHORTS!!! This is about the quintessential Ogawa match, as swamp monster Takayama is coming after him and Rat Boy has to weasel his way out of this without getting murdered. Ogawa is so great in the opening, throwing punches and eye pokes like a ratty, sleazy heel mini Jerry Lawler. Takayama puts a fulls sized ass beating on his undersized ass and about 5 minutes in the match, it seems like Ogawa is done already. Ogawa makes great use of the TREE OF WOE~! does a mighty great control segment on Takayama. My favourite thing about Ogawa here was that everything he was able to do was capitalizing on something else, he was never merely running through his offense. Takayama gets in a SINGLE BLOW which is enough to almost put Ogawa on the shelf and we get a brief but awesome finishing run built around Takayama throwing bombs and Ogawa throwing Rat Boy'isms. Ogawa's bumping was great here as he was just flying around for Takayama and Takayama himself did a great job putting over the champ as a champ.

Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NJPW 8/29/2002)

NOAH vs. NJPW! Everyone acts like a heel! Liger is a disdainful prick! Kikuchi gives a top level performance! Tanaka and Kanemaru actually add to the match! I dunno, this was very enjoyable. Liger pummels the hell out of the NOAH guys and acts like a bastard, while Kikuchi is equally fired up and takes some murderous bumps and hits. The most amazing thing about the match is probably that it works while Minoru Tanaka and Kanemaru are in it. Those guy tend to be lousy, but they are effective here. Don't be fooled Kanemaru is still Kanemaru and has no presence whatsoever, while Tanaka falls into get-this-shit in territory at times, but Kanemaru hits his moves well and Tanaka heels it up nicely, so their stuff comes across as less dull than usual. The heel moves and chippiness aswell as some really fun, borderline Monterrey-like sequences keep it entertaining the whole way and they end the thing at the right time. I dunno if all that is merriting of all-time classic status but it's one of the better 2 vs. 2 junior tags I've seen in japanese wrestling that's for sure.

Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs Kazushi Miyamoto & Taiyo Kea (AJPW 4/27/2002)

These WAR revival in AJPW Tenryu performance are always a highlight when it comes to 2000s puro. No dumb shit, just a lot of fire and disdain at play. Miyamoto wants to stand up to his much tubbier, bigger opponents and as a result gets his nose busted and kicked in the face a bunch. Bully Tenryu is always great, but Miyamoto looked seriously good here aswell. His selling was pretty nuanced – I mean he was probably legit taking a lot of pain, but he even made glancing individual blows look really hurty. His comebacks looked good, and he was able to pull off a parkour spot that actually looked cool. Kea is someone who just never reaches greatness, but he was energetic and always there to put a thudding kick on Tenryu when it counted. Tenryus facial expressions and selling were out of this world as usual, anytime he took a blow that knocked him off balance he would look like a teacher in a high school comedy that just got pie faced. Tenryu casually strolling over to teach Kea a lesson while Araya and Miyamoto were fighting is why he's special. I found it almost comical how cooled down Araya was compared to everyone else here like this was just another tuesday. He looked good raking Miyamotos bloody nose a bunch and taking a massive bump on a german suplex for a fat aging guy.
  

Shinya Hashimoto vs Masato Tanaka (ZERO1 3/2/2002)

Tanaka disrespects the belt, and Hashimoto makes an example of him. This is among the greatest squash matches of all time, as Hashimoto looks like an unstoppable killing machine, and Tanaka looks like the gutsiest dude on earth for surviving. Tanaka is „deathmatch tough“ so you buy him surviving all the punishing blows and maybe decking Hashimoto with a potatoe of his own. Him being unable to hold on to a sleeper simply because he took a beating to every part of his body was pretty great aswell. Still this was all about Hashimoto destroying a poor fella. He may be the best ever at utilizing a basic karate chop to look like a badass. 

 

2002 MOTY MASTER LIST