8/24/73 Los Angeles,CA Olympic Auditorium, 2/3 Falls NWA North American Tag Title Match: Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Pat Patterson & Johnny Powers
12/10/73 Tokyo Taiikukan, 2/3 Falls NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Johnny Powers
4/26/74 Hiroshima Kenritsu Gym: Antonio Inoki vs. Seiji Sakaguchi
5/19/75 Canda, 2/3 Falls NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Tiger Jeet Singh vs. Antonio Inoki
3/20/75 Kuramae Kokugikan: Antonio Inoki vs. Tiger Jeet Singh. Digest
Montreal, Quebec NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Tiger Jeet Singh. Digest
6/26/75 Kuramae Kokugikan, 2/3 Falls NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
10/7/76 Kuramae Kokugikan, NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Andre The Giant. Digest
6/1/77 Aichi-ken Gym, NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Andre The Giant
6/10/77 Virginia Convention Center, NWA North American Tag Title Match: Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanosuke Ueda vs. Seiji Sakaguchi & Strong Kobayashi
7/21/77 Miyagi-ken Sports Center, Tag Title Match: Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Black Gordman & Great Goliath
7/21/77, 2/3 Falls NWF Asia Heavyweight Title Match: Tiger Jeet Singh vs. Strong Kobayashi
5/30/77 Okayama Budokan: Antonio Inoki vs. Victor Rivera
6/29/77 Osaka Furitsu Gym
Antonio Inoki & Riki Choshu vs. Asian Terrors #1 & #2 (Great Goliath & Black Gordman)
Shozo Kobayashi vs. Umanoseke Ueda
12/1/77 Osaka Furitsu Gym: Riki Choshu vs. Wilhelm Ruska
1/23/78 NY, NY MSG WWWF Junior Title Match: Jose Estrada vs. Tatsumi Fujinami
6/9/78 Los Angeles, CA Olympic Auditorium, WWWF Junior Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Carlos Mata
12/11/75 Kuramae Kokugikan, 2/3 Falls NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Billy Robinson
7/27/78 Nippon Budokan, WWWF Junior Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ryuma Go
2/2/77 Osaka Furitsu Gym: Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen
8/3/78 Mexico City Palacio De Los Deportes, 2/3 Falls WWWF Junior Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ray Mendoza
9/19/78 Osaka Furitsu Gym: Tiger Jeet Singh vs. Umanoseke Ueda
10/6/78 Niigata-shi Gym: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Tony Rocco
10/6/78 2/3 Falls: Brute Bernard & Killer Karl Krup & Executioner vs. Antonio Inoki & Riki Choshu & Seiji Sakaguchi
2/10/77 Nippon Budokan, NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
2/2/77 Osaka Furitsu Gym, 2/3 Falls NWA North American Tag Title Match: Seiji Sakaguchi & Strong Kobayashi vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanoseke Ueda
8/11/78 Los Angeles, CA Olympic Auditorium, WWWF Junior Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Mando Guerrero
4/1/77 Kuramae Kokugikan, 2/3 Falls NWA North American Tag Title Match: Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanoseke Ueda
4/8/78 Los Angeles, CA Olympic Auditorium, WWWF Junior Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. El Goliath (Great Goliath)
11/1/78 Aichi-ken Gym, NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Chris Markov
10/7/76 Kuramae Kokugikan, Kakutogi World #1 Decision Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Andre The Giant
3/20/78 NY, NY MSG Judo Jacket Match: Wilhelm Ruska vs. Seiji Sakaguchi
1/18/90 Toyama-shi Taiikukan: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Hiro Saito
1/18/90: Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Big Van Vader & The Great Kokina (Yokozuna)
10/10/76 NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Pak Song
3/20/78 NY, NY MSG WWWF Junior Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Gypsy Rodriguez
1/18/90 Toyama-shi Taiikukan: Riki Choshu vs. Umanosuke Ueda
1/25/90 IWGP Junior Next Challenger Decision League Match: Owen Hart vs. Black Tiger
1/25/90 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, IWGP Junior Next Challenger Decision League Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Akira Nogami
1/25/90: Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Super Strong Machine
12/9/76 Kuramae Kokugikan, Kakutogi World #1 Decision Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Wilhelm Ruska
1/25/90 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Riki Choshu & Hiroshi Hase vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito
1/25/90: Big Van Vader vs. Masahiro Chono
1/31/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Naoki Sano vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
12/12/76 Pakistan Karachi National Stadium, 2/3 Falls 5Min 6R Kakutogi World #1 Decision Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Akarum Pedwam
7/21/77 Miyagi-ken Sports Center, 2/3 Falls NWF Asia Heavyweight Title Match: Tiger Jeet Singh vs. Strong Kobayashi
12/8/77 Kuramae Kokugikan, Kakutogi World #1 Decision Match: Wilhelm Ruska vs. Buffalo Allen (Bad News Allen)
1/31/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroshi Hase
1/31/90: Riki Choshu & George Nakano vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto
9/2/77 Aichi-ken Gym NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen
12/8/77 Kuramae Kokugikan, 2/3 Falls NWA North American Tag Title Match: Seiji Sakaguchi & Strong Kobayashi vs. Pat Patterson & Steve Wright
3/30/78 Kuramae Kokugikan: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ivan Koloff
1/31/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Big Van Vader & Great Kokina
11/9/77: Andre The Giant vs. Stan Hansen
3/20/78 Kuramae Kokugikan, NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Masked Superstar
4/21/78 Kuramae Kokugikan, 1st MSG Series Opening: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Umanoseke Ueda
2/10/90 Tokyo Dome
Naoki Sano & Pegasus Kid vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Akira Nogami
Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto & Norio Honaga vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Kantaro Hoshino
12/1/77 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan, NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Pat Patterson
8/2/77 Nippon Budokan, Kakutogi World #1 Decision Match: Antonio Inoki vs. The Monsterman (Eddie Everett)
10/25/77 Nippon Budokan, Kakutogi World #1 Decision Match: Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Buffalo Allen
5/30/78 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan 2/3 Falls: Bob Backlund & Tony Garea vs. Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami
2/10/90 Tokyo Dome
Steve Williams vs. Salman Hashimikov
AWA Heavyweight Title Match: Larry Zbyszko vs. Masa Saito
10/25/77 Nippon Budokan, Kakutogi World #1 Decision Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Chuck Wepner
1/13/78 Okayama Budokan 2/3 Falls: Antonio Inoki & Riki Choshu vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanoseke Ueda
5/30/78 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan, 1st MSG Series Final: Antonio Inoki vs. Andre The Giant
2/10/93 Gifu Sangyo Kaikan
Osamu Nishimura vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa
Hiroyoshi Yamamoto vs. Yuji Nagata
Shinjiro Otani vs. Satoshi Kojima
12/8/77 Kuramae Kokugikan: Antonio Inoki vs. Great Antonio
Aired 2/24/78 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Antonio Inoki vs. Jerry Brown
10/30/78 Okayama Budokan 2/3 Falls NWA North American Tag Title Match: Seiji Sakaguchi & Strong Kobayashi vs. Baron Karl Von Krupp & Brute Bernard
4/5/79 Tokyo Taiikukan, WWWF Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Perro Aguayo
2/10/93 Gifu Sangyo Kaikan: Osamu Kido vs. Black Cat
2/3/78 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
10/6/78 Niigata-shi Taiikukan: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Tony Rocco
4/5/79 Tokyo Taiikukan, UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Title Match: Gran Hamada vs. Baby Face
2/10/93 Gifu Sangyo Kaikan: Hiroshi Hase & Jushin Thunder Liger & Manabu Nakanishi & & Akira Nogami vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine & Norio Honaga
4/21/78 Kuramae Kokugikan, MSG Series Tournament: Antonio Inoki vs. Seiji Sakaguchi
10/30/78 Okayama Budokan: Antonio Inoki vs. The Executioner (Mr. X):
2/10/93 Gifu Sangyo Kaikan: Masahiro Chono & Keiji Muto vs. Tony Halme & Perry Saturn
2/10/93 Gifu Sangyo Kaikan: Brad Armstrong & Rambo vs. Hell Raisers
2/10/93 Gifu Sangyo Kaikan: Kengo Kimura & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Takashi Iizuka & Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami
7/27/78 Nippon Budokan, 2/3 Falls WWWF Heavyweight Title Match: Bob Backlund vs. Antonio Inoki
2/13/93 Okayama-ken Taiikukan
Shinjiro Otani vs. Tokumitsu Ishizawa
Hiroyoshi Yamamoto vs. Satoshi Kojima
Black Cat vs. Perry Saturn
11/1/78 Aichi-ken Taiikukan, NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Chris Markov
12/5/78 2/3 Falls NWA North American Tag Title Match: Seiji Sakaguchi & Strong Kobayashi vs. Umanosuke Ueda & Thunder Sugiyama
2/13/93 Okayama-ken Taiikukan
Masa Saito vs. Tatsutoshi Goto
Jushin Thunder Liger & Osamu Kido vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito
Masahiro Chono vs. Rambo
1/12/79 Kawasaki-shi Taiikukan, NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Bob Roop
2/2/79 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, 2/3 Falls NWA Dome: Seiji Sakaguchi & Strong Kobayashi vs. Bob Roop & Kurt Von Hess
2/16/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Shinjiro Otani vs. Osamu Nishimura
Hiroyoshi Yamamoto & Yuji Nagata vs. Satoshi Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi
2/2/79 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Antonio Inoki vs. Tony Rocco
4/5/79 Tokyo Taiikukan, NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
2/16/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Brad Armstrong vs. Akira Nogami
El Samurai vs. Masao Orihara
4/22/79 Mexico El Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. El Canek
2/16/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan, 2/3 Falls NJ vs. WAR 10 Man Tag Match: Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu & Osamu Kido & Hiroshi Hase & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara & Takashi Ishikawa & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Koki Kitahara
5/10/79 Fukuoka Sports Center, NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. & Jack Brisco
5/18/79 Niigata-shi Gym, MSG Series Decision League: Stan Hansen vs. Andre The Giant
3/9/93 Akita Shiritsu Taiikukan
Young Lion League: Shinjiro Otani vs. Tokimitsu Ishizawa
Young Lion League: Satoshi Kojima vs. Osamu Nishimura
12/8/77 Kuramae Kokugikan, Kakutogi World #1 Decision Match: Wilhelm Ruska vs. Buffalo Allen
6/7/79 Kuramae Kokugikan
WWWF Junior Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. El Canek
MSG Series Final: Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen
3/9/93 Akita Shiritsu Taiikukan Young Lion League: Hiroyoshi Yamamoto vs. Manabu Nakanishi
6/15/79 Los Angeles, CA Olympic Auditorium
WWF Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Mark Rocco
2/3 Falls NWA North American Tag Title Match: Masa Saito & Hiro Matsuda vs. Seiji Sakaguchi & Riki Choshu
3/9/93 Akita Shiritsu Taiikukan
Pegasus Kid & Dean Malenko vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai
Akira Nogami & Takyuki Iizuka vs. Great Kabuki & Akitoshi Saito
7/6/79
Tatsumi Fujinami & El Gran Hamada vs. Tony Rocco & Ultraman
Antonio Inoki vs. Leroy Brown
2/3 Falls NWA North American Tag Title Match: Seiji Sakaguchi & Riki Choshu vs. Strong Kobayashi & Kengo Kimura
3/9/93 Akita Shiritsu Taiikukan: Masahiro Chono & Keiji Muto & Riki Choshu & Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Scott Norton & Hercules & TNT & Axe Boulder
8/2/79 Shirakawa Prince Hotel Gold Hall, NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
8/10/79 Los Angeles, CA Olympic Auditorium, NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
4/6/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Great Kabuki vs. Akira Nogami
Michyoshi Ohara vs. Takashi Ishikawa
8/31/79 Miyagi: Antonio Inoki vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
9/6/79 Fukuoka Sports Center, NWA North American Title Match: Masked Superstar vs. Seiji Sakaguchi
4/6/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Osamu Nishimura vs. Tokimitsu Ishizawa
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Yamamoto vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
9/6/79 Fukuoka Sports Center 2/3 Falls: Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Masa Saito
3/9/93 Akita Shiritsu Taiikukan Raging Staff vs. Heisei Ishingun Single 4 Battles
Norio Honaga vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi
Hiro Saito vs. Masaji Aoyagi
Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Kengo Kimura
Super Strong Machine vs. Shiro Koshinaka
9/28/79 Aichi-ken Gym: Antonio Inoki vs. Masked Superstar
11/8/79 WWF North American Heavyweight Title Match: Pat Patterson vs. Seiji Sakaguchi
4/6/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai vs. Ultimo Dragon & Norio Honaga
IWGP Tag Title Match: Hell Raisers vs. Masahiro Chono & Takayuki Iizuka
10/2/79 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Antonio Inoki vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
12/19/79 Mexico City Palacio de los Deportes, 2/3 Falls: El Canek vs. Riki Choshu
4/6/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Handicap Match: Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura & Akitoshi Saito vs. Koki Kitahara & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito
Tatsumi Fujinami & Osamu Kido vs. Ashura Hara & Super Strong Machine
11/1/79 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Dusty Rhodes
11/8/79 WWF World Heavyweight Title Next Challenger Decision Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Dusty Rhodes
3/23/93 Tokyo Taiikukan Young Lion Cup Tournament: Manabu Nakanishi vs. Osamu Nishimura
4/6/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan: Riki Choshu vs. Genichiro Tenryu
11/30/79 WWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Bob Backlund vs. Antonio Inoki
3/23/93 Tokyo Taiikukan
Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai vs. Wild Pegasus & Dean Malenko
Masahiro Chono & Takayuki Iizuka vs. TNT & Tony St. Clair
12/6/79 Kuramae Kokugikan WWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Bob Backlund
12/19/79 Mexico City Palacio de los Deportes, WWF Junior Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Angel Blanco Jr.
3/23/93 Tokyo Taiikukan: Great Kabuki vs. Akira Nogami
2/1/80 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Riki Choshu & Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen & Bad News Allen
NWA Junior Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Steve Keirn
3/23/93 Tokyo Taiikukan 4th Young Lion Cup Final: Hiroyoshi Yamamoto vs. Osamu Nishimura
2/5/80 Aichi-ken Gym, WWF Junior Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dynamite Kid
2/7/80 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Stan Hansen vs. Antonio Inoki
3/23/93 Tokyo Taiikukan
Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito & Ashura Hara vs. Akitoshi Saito & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura
IWGP Tag Title Match: Hell Raisers vs. Scott Norton & Hercules
4/4/80 Kawasaki-shi Taiikukan
Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen
NWA World Junior Title Match: Mike Graham vs. Tatsumi Fujinami
3/23/93 Tokyo Taiikukan
Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Shinya Hashimoto
Takashi Ishikawa & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami
9/30/80 Tokyo Nippon Budokan, NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Ken Patera
4/4/80 Kawasaki-shi Taiikukan, Kotetsu Yamamoto Retirement Match: Kotetsu Yamamoto & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Oiyama & Goro Tsurumi w/Retirement Ceremony:
5/3/93 Fukuoka Dome
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Yamamoto & Osamu Nishimura vs. El Samurai & Takayuki Iizuka & Akira Nogami
Akitoshi Saito vs. Michiyoshi Ohara
9/22/80 WWF North American Heavyweight Title Match: Larry Sharpe vs. Seiji Sakaguchi
4/23/81 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan
Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid. Tiger Mask Debut
NWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen
5/3/93 Fukuoka Dome: Brutus Beefcake vs. Masa Saito
9/23/81 Tokyo Den'en Coliseum
Tiger Mask vs. Solar I
WWF Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. El Solitario
Andre The Giant vs. Stan Hansen
IWGP Asia League: Antonio Inoki vs. Tiger Toguchi (Kim Duk)
11/5/81 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan
Tiger Mask vs. Gran Hamada
Abdullah The Butcher vs. Dino Bravo
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Animal Hamaguchi
9/7/84 Fukuoka Sports Center: Antonio Inoki vs. Strong Machine
3/30/83 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Iron Mike Sharpe vs. Kengo Kimura
Kuniaki Kobayashi & Isamu Teranishi vs. Norio Honaga & Nobuhiko Takada
Masked Superstar & Don Muraco vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Seiji Sakaguchi
Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. The Zambaui Express (Kareem Muhammad & Elijah Akeem)
5/3/93 Fukuoka Dome: Hiroshi Hase vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara
4/17/84
Kareem Muhammed (Ray Candy) & Elijah Akeem (Leroy Brown) & Hercules Ayala vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu & Animal Hamaguchi
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Iron Mike Sharpe
Antonio Inoki vs. Masked Superstar
5/3/93 Fukuoka Dome, IWGP Tag Title Match: Hell Raisers vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono
6/5/93 Tsu-shi Taiikukan: Satoshi Kojima vs. Black Cat
6/14/84 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan
Riki Choshu & Masa Saito & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Dick Murdock & Adrian Adonis & Ken Patera
'84 IWGP Final: Antonio Inoki vs. Hulk Hogan
6/5/93 Tsu-shi Taiikukan
Best Of The Super Jr. III League Match: Eddie Guerrero vs. Lightning Kid
Best Of The Super Jr. III League Match: Pegasus Kid vs. Flying Scorpio
6/11/84 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Adrian Adonis
Hulk Hogan & Masked Superstar vs. Riki Choshu & Masa Saito
Antonio Inoki vs. Andre The Giant
6/5/93 Tsu-shi Taiikukan
Best Of The Super Jr. III League Match: Shinjiro Otani vs. Norio Honaga
Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai vs. David "Fit: Finlay & Dean Malenko
9/7/84 Fukuoka Sports Center
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Abdullah The Butcher
Greg Valentine vs. Riki Choshu
9/20/84 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
The Strong Machines No.1 & No. 2 vs. Kantaro Hoshino & Kuroneko (Black Cat)
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Greg Valentine
Ishu Kakutogisen: Antonio Inoki vs. Anoaro Atisanoee
11/30/84 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan
Adrian Adonis vs. Kengo Kimura
MSG Tag League: Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. The Strong Machines
6/5/93 Mie Tsu-shi Taiikukan
Hiroshi Hase & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine
Bobby Eaton & Tony Halme vs. Masahiro Chono & Takashi Iizuka
12/6/84 Hiroshima Kenritsu Taiikukan
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dick Murdoch
Antonio Inoki & Andre The Giant vs. The Strong Machines No. 1 & No. 2
Super Heavyweight Battle Royal
6/5/93 Mie Tsu-shi Taiikukan
Michiyoshi Ohara vs. Masaji Aoyagi
Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Tatsumi Fujinami
12/3/84 Okayama Budokan
Kantaro Hoshino vs. Hiro Saito
Kengo Kimura & Seiji Sakaguchi vs. The Strong Machines No. 1 & No. 2
Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami & Tiger Toguchi vs. Dick Murdoch & Adrian Adonis & Andre The Giant
6/5/93 Mie Tsu-shi Taiikukan: Keiji Mutoh & Akira Nogami vs. The Great Kabuki & Akitoshi Saito
1/25/85 Tokuyama-shi Taiikukan
Kantaro Hoshino & The Cobra & Shunji Takano vs. The Strong Machines No. 1 & No. 2 & No. 3
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. King Kong Bundy
Antonio Inoki vs. Abdullah The Butcher
6/15/93 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Yuji Nagata & Shinjiro Otani & Osamu Nishimura vs. Yuji Yasuraoka & Nobukazu Hirai & Yoshihiro Ito
Satoshi Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Koki Kitahara
2/5/85 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan
Kengo Kimura & Kantaro Hoshino & Shunji Takano vs. The Strong Machines No. 1 & No. 2 & No. 3
Black Tiger vs. The Cobra
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Hulk Hogan
Antonio Inoki vs. King Kong Bundy
12/8/86 Aichi-ken Taiikukan
'86 Japan Cup Tag League: Nobuhiko Takada & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Osamu Kido & Akira Maeda
Keiji Muto & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Antonio Inoki & Yoshiaki Fujiwara
12/11/86 Ryogoku Kokugikan
Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido vs. Dick Murduch & Masked Superstar
Keiji Muto & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Mr. Pogo & Kendo Nagasaki
12/11/86 Ryogoku Kokugikan, '86 Japan Cup Tag League Match: Antonio Inoki & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido
12/10/86 Osaka Jo Hall
Tonga Kid vs. Kim Jeon
George Takano & Keiji Muto vs. Mr. Pogo & Kendo Nagasaki
Shiro Koshinaka vs. Kazuo Yamazaki
12/10/86 Osaka Jo Hall: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Kengo Kimura
'86 Japan Cup Tag League Match: Antonio Inoki & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Akira Maeda & Osamu Kido
1/2/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Osamu Kido vs. Buzz Sawyer & Brett Sawyer
Antonio Inoki & Keiji Muto vs. Konga The Barbarian & Black Bart
1/2/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Kengo Kimura
1/9/87
Keiji Muto vs. El Canek
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Konga The Barbarian
Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Black Bart & Buzz
3/2/87 Saitama Soka Sogo Taiikukan: Keiji Muto vs. & Jerry Grey
2/9/87 Gifu Sangyo Kaikan
Nobuhiko Takada & Osamu Kido & Kazuo Yamazaki vs. George Takano & Shiro Koshinaka & Tatsutoshi Goto
Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Akira Maeda vs. Seiji Sakaguchi & Umanosuke Ueda
Keiji Muto vs. Konga The Barbarian
Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Buzz Sawyer vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Antonio Inoki
3/2/87 Saitama Soka Sogo Taiikukan
Mr. Pogo & Kendo Nagasaki vs. Nobuhiko Takada & Akira Maeda
Steve Williams & Rick Steiner vs. Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami
3/9/87 Tokushima Kenritsu Taiikukan
The Sheepherders vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Osamu Kido
Steve Williams & Rick Steiner vs. George Takano & Tatsumi Fujinami
Mr. Pogo & Kendo Nagasaki vs. Antonio Inoki & Keiji Muto
3/20/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Young Lion Final: Masahiro Chono vs. Shinya Hashimoto
Antonio Inoki vs. Kendo Nagasaki
IWGP Tag Title Match: Keiji Muto & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Nobuhiko Takada & Akira Maeda
3/26/87 Osaka Jo Hall, IWGP Tag Title Match: Keiji Muto & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Nobuhiko Takada & Akira Maeda
3/26/87 Osaka Jo Hall: Antonio Inoki vs. Masa Saito
10/4/87 Island Death Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Masa Saito
10/5/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu
10/26/87 Osaka Furitsu Rinkai Sports Center
Keiichi Yamada & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga
Keiji Muto & Nobuhiko Takada vs. Riki Choshu & Super Strong Machine
10/22/87 Yonezawa-shi Taiikukan: Keiichi Yamada & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga
10/22/87 Yonezawa-shi Taiikukan
Riki Choshu & Super Strong Machine vs. Bad News Allen & The Eliminator
Steve Casey & Manny Fernandez & Konga The Barbarian vs. Keiji Muto & Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Antonio Inoki
11/9/87 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Mr. Pogo & Kendo Nagasaki vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Seiji Sakaguchi
Keiji Muto vs. Dick Murduch
Masa Saito & Riki Choshu vs. Kengo Kimura & Tatsumi Fujinami
Riki Choshu Documentary
12/3/87 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan: Kazuo Yamazaki & Shiro Koshinaka & Keiichi Yamada vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga
12/4/87 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan: Antonio Inoki & Dick Murduch vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Masa Saito
12/27/87 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan: Keiichi Yamada vs. Masakatsu Funaki
12/7/87 Osaka Furitsu Taikukaikan
Masa Saito & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura
Keiji Muto & Nobuhiko Takada vs. Kerry & Kevin Von Erich
Dick Murduch & Antonio Inoki vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura
12/27/87 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Hiroshi Hase vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi
IWGP Tag Title Match: Kazuo Yamazaki & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Nobuhiko Takada & Osamu Kido
1/4/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Big Van Vader vs. Antonio Inoki
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Masa Saito
1/4/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Top Of The Super Junior League Match: Hiroshi Hase vs. Owen Hart
1/11/88 Kumagaya-shi Taikukaikan
Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs. Vader & Masa Saito
Riki Choshu vs. Buzz Sawyer
Antonio Inoki & Nobuhiko Takada vs. Owen Hart & Steve Williams
1/25/88 Gifu Sangyo Kaikan, Handicap Match: Vader vs. George Takano & Kantaro Hoshino
1/25/88 Gifu Sangyo Kaikan
Bob Orton vs. Tatsumi Fujinami
Steve Williams & Owen Hart & Buzz Sawyer vs. Riki Choshu & Masa Saito & Hiroshi Hase
2/1/88 Saitama Soka-shi Sogo Taiikukan
Top Of The Super Junior League Match: Hiroshi Hase vs. Shiro Koshinaka
Riki Choshu vs. Bob Orton
Big Van Vader & Masa Saito vs. Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi
2/1/88 Saitama Soka-shi Sogo Taiikukan: Buzz Sawyer & Owen Hart vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura
2/7/88 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Top Of The Super Junior League Match: Hiroshi Hase vs. Shiro Koshinaka
Antonio Inoki vs. Big Van Vader
IWGP Tag Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs. Riki Choshu & Super Strong Machine
2/4/88 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
Top Of The Super Junior League Match: Hiroshi Hase vs. Keiichi Yamada
Top Of The Super Junior League Match: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Nobuhiko Takada
Big Van Vader & Masa Saito vs. Kazuo Yamazaki & Osamu Kido & Yoshiaki Fujiwara
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Riki Choshu
2/5/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Top Of The Super Junior League Match: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi
Top Of The Super Junior League Match: Nobuhiko Takada vs. Hiroshi Hase
Handicap Match: Big Van Vader vs. Seiji Sakaguchi & Kantaro Hoshino
Mr. Saito & Riki Choshu vs. Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami
3/11/88 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan: Mr. Saito & Riki Choshu vs. Billy Gaspar & Barry Gaspar
3/11/88 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Hiroshi Hase vs. Nobuhiko Takada
Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs. Antonio Inoki & Dick Murduch
3/14/88: Masakatsu Funaki & Keiichi Yamada vs. Kazuo Yamazaki & Nobuhiko Takada
3/19/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Hiroshi Hase vs. Shiro Koshinaka
3/19/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Super Strong Machine & Mr. Saito & Riki Choshu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura & George Takano
Antonio Inoki vs. Billy Gaspar
Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Shiro Koshinaka training & getting injured during a 2/7/88 match
1987-88 Junior Heavyweights highlights in 1987 & 1988
4/11/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Masakatsu Funaki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Manny Fernandez & Steve Casey
Big Van Vader vs. Seiji Sakaguchi
Antonio Inoki & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Hiroshi Hase & Riki Choshu
4/22/88 Okinawa Onoyama Taiikukan
Super Strong Machine vs. Kengo Kimura
Keiichi Yamada & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kuniaki Kobayashi
4/22/88: Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Big Van Vader & Masa Saito
4/27/88 Osaka Furitsu Taikukaikan
Elimination Match: Kuniaki Kobayashi & Hiroshi Hase & Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga & Kensuke Sasaki vs Keiichi Yamada & Kantaro Hoshino & Shiro Koshinaka & Akira Nogami & Tatsutoshi Goto
Tatsumi Fujinami vs Big Van Vader
4/22/88 Okinawa Onoyama Taiikukan: Manny Fernandez vs. Riki Choshu
4/27/88 Osaka Furitsu Taikukaikan: Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura
5/5/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Crusher Crunchky (Tom Urbanski) vs. George Takano
Super Strong Machine vs. Steve Casey
6/10/88 Hiroshima Kenritsu Taiikukan
Dick Murduch & Adrian Adonis vs. Billy Gaspar & Barry Gaspar
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Owen Hart vs. Keiichi Yamada
5/21/78 MSG WWF Jr Title Match: Jose Estrada vs Tatsumi Fujinami
5/9/80 WWF Jr Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs Chavo Guerrero
2/6/85 WWF Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs Hulk Hogan
10/25/87: Tatsumi Fujinami vs Riki Choshu
12/12/85 Clip: Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi
6/10/88: Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs Mr Saito & Riki Choshu
6/17/88 Niigata
Owen Hart vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi 8:28 of 12:47. There was so much potential here. They got off to a great start with some vintage Kobayashi heel work, jumping Owen with his spinning roundhouse kick right after Owen did his ceremonial pre match backflip into the ring. This set the match down more of a brawling path, which was actually good for Owen because he's not just going to go with all his high flying, he mixes it in here and there, but mostly saves it for the later stages. Thus, they instilled some heat & hatred in place of a lot of the mat work, which created a stronger atmosphere. I'm sure this could have been a 4 star match, but the early stages laid a strong foundation for later stages that frankly did not exist. Around or perhaps even before the point the match should have taken off, Kobayashi just randomly pins Owen out of nowhere with a backslide of all things, so ultimately there was no finishing sequence and no real outlet to showcase Owen's flying. ***
Dick Murdock vs. Tatsumi Fujinami
Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs. Billy Gaspar & Barry Gaspar
6/24/88 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
Masa Saito & Big Van Vader vs. Billy Gaspar & Barry Gaspar
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Owen Hart vs. Shiro Koshinaka 6:03 of 14:07. They pick the match up as they're seemingly easing from the body work - Owen on Shiro's back & Shiro on Owen's knee - into the energetic finishing sequence. The action & atmosphere are great down the stretch, but this portion seems to have little to do with whatever came before it. It's fantastic action, nonetheless. This finish is much better than the 6/17 Kobayashi match, even if it's along the same lines, this time it's one of Shiro's signature holds & after they've gone back & forth with their best stuff for 3 or 4 minutes. Probably a little below **** but seemingly at least in that ballpark.
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Decision Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu
6/26/88 Nagoya Rainbow Hall
Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs. Gaspar Brothers
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Kuniaki Kobayshi
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Big Van Vader 13:27
7/22/88 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Hiro Saito
IWGP Heavyweight Title Next Challenger Decision League Match: Big Van Vader vs. Masa Saito
IWGP Heavyweight Title Next Challenger Decision League Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Riki Choshu
Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs. Buzz Sawyer & Manny Fernandez
7/29/88 Tokyo Ariake Coliseum: Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura
8/88: Antonio Inoki & Shiro Koshinaka & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Riki Choshu & Super Strong Machine & Kuniaki Kobayashi
8/26/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Scott Hall & Ron Starr vs. George Takano & Kengo Kimura
Masa Saito vs. Billy Gaspar
Keiichi Yamada & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Riki Choshu & Kuniaki Kobayashi
Big Van Vader & Black Tiger (Marc Rocco) vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka
9/12/88 Fukuoka Kokusai Center
George Takano & Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Gaspar Brothers
Big Van Vader vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow
10/10/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Tony St. Clair vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara
10/19/88: Steve Williams & Tony St. Clair vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Osamu Kido
10/27/88 Murayama Shimin Sports Center: Steve Williams vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara
Samurai Shiro Koshinaka special with digested matches leading up to the complete 10/10 match
6/24/88: Owen Hart vs. Shiro Koshinaka
2/6/86: The Cobra vs. Shiro Koshinaka
12/10/86: Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Shrio Koshinaka
2/5/87: Nobuhiko Takada vs. Shiro Koshinaka
3/19/88: Hiroshi Hase vs. Shiro Koshinaka
10/10/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Perro Aguayo & El Canek vs. Keichii Yamada & Shiro Koshinaka
9/12/88 Fukuoka Kokusai Center, 5 vs. 5 Elimination Match: Masa Saito & Hiro Saito & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Riki Choshu & Super Strong Machine vs. Keiichi Yamada & Shiro Koshinaka & Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura & Tatsumi Fujinami
10/10/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Hiro Saito & Riki Choshu vs. Steve WIlliams & Steve Casey
Antonio Inoki vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow
11/11/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hal
Dick Murduch & Bob Orton vs. Masa Saito & Seiji Sakaguchi
'88 Japan Cup Elimination League Match: Tracey Smothers & Steve Armstrong & George Takano vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Chono & Tatsumi Fujinami
'88 Japan Cup Elimination League Match: Antonio Inoki & Riki Choshu & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Osamu Kido & Kengo Kimura
11/26/88 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukan: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Buzz Sawyer
11/26/88 Fukui-shi Taiikukan
Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono vs. Tracey Smothers & Steve Armstrong
'88 Japan Cup Elimination League Match: Super Strong Machine & The Tiger & The Jaguar vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Hiro Saito & Kuniaki Kobayashi
'88 Japan Cup Elimination League Match: Antonio Inoki & Kantaro Hoshino & Riki Choshu vs. Scott Hall & Dick Murduch & Bob Orton
11/25/88 Hiroshima Kenritsu Taiikukan, '88 Japan Cup Elimination League Match: Seiji Sakaguchi & Tatsutoshi Goto & Masa Saito vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Osamu Kido & Kengo Kimura
12/7/88 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
'88 Japan Cup Elimination League Advance to Final Decision Tournament 1st Match: Seiji Sakaguchi & Masa Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Dick Murdock & Cowboy Bob Orton & Scott Hall
'88 Japan Cup Elimination League Advance to Final Decision Tournament 2nd Match: Dick Murdock & Cowboy Bob Orton & Scott Hall vs. Antonio Inoki & Riki Choshu & Kantaro Hoshino
12/7/88 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan, '88 Japan Cup Elimination League Final: Antonio Inoki & Riki Choshu & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono
12/9/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Dick Murduch & Bob Orton vs. Antonio Inoki & Riki Choshu
12/9/88 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Keiichi Yamada 11:01 of 15:16. I remember loving this match when I was young, but I'm not really seeing it now. Not that it isn't really good, but while everything was well done, the chemistry didn't seem to be clicking. Yamada still isn't that threatening in his third title shot, which was one of the reasons it was probably below the average IWGP junior title match. It's not so much that Yamada never made me believe he would win, but that the match was simply lacking the usual spark, fire, and drama that Koshinaka is known for. Yamada relied on his kicks early, saving the flying for after he had Koshinaka in some trouble. ***1/2
IWGP & WCWA Heavyweight Double Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Kerry Von Erich 5:40 & 6:15 of 18:26? I wanted to like this match, but it was one of those matches where you were just counting the minutes until the screw job. Fujinami was looking for a real match, but Von Erich just wanted to stall. Fujinami began with the strategy of using speed to beat power, but quickly got nasty, ramming Von Erich's broken fingers into the turnbuckle and stomping them. This instilled the intensity into the match, and had the crowd going. Fujinami continued in this fiery nature, giving one of his more charismatic performances, but it only does so much good when your opponent either does out and out rest holds or his iron claw, a rest hold that marginal, at best, talents used to use as a finisher. Von Erich even added a stomach claw to a cobra twist, but didn't really get a good one until they were on the outside, which of course led to a double ring out. They restarted the match, and Von Erich again had the claw on the outside, but this time Fujinami was able to whip him into the guard rail. Fujinami got pissed when Kerry tried to crack him with a chair, angrily using it on him then busted him open against the post. Kevin Von Erich rolled his brother back in to avoid the ring out, but once he saw how badly Kerry was bleeding, he began to have second thoughts and petition for the match to be stopped. Kerry kept fighting instinctively, mainly just keeping his arms up trying to protect himself, so once the ref identified this he did call it off. **1/4
1/6/89 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Hirokazu Hata & Naoki Sano vs. Sergio El Hermoso & El Bello Greco 14:04. Hata looks something like Akira Nogami with Hiroshi Hase's mustache. Based on this match, he could hold his own with those guys in the ring, too. He was very nimble with excellent body control. Though this wasn't the greatest showcase for Sano & Hata's talents, both looked really good when they were on offense. The match was almost exclusively lucha style, but the rudos weren't particularly flexible, graceful, or athletic. They do the homosexual gimmick, spreading their arms and doing a fairy ballerina hop every time they ran the ropes. They initiated few running sequences, enjoying keeping the opponent's close a bit too much for the quality of the match. But overall, this was good stuff in the typical old school lucha variety where the technicos offense is really fun and the rudos offense is basically throwaway brawling. ***
Shiro Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Super Strong Machine & George Takano 13:55. I didn't expect this match to have any chance of being better than Koshinaka vs. Yamada, but it actually was because they did the match you'd hope for rather than the match you'd expect. Koshinaka & Kobayashi were super motivated, basically determined to have a good match. They kept the energy level high and the offense very good throughout. Takano was pretty lazy in '89 despite his only tag title run, but he came to wrestle today, perhaps because Koshinaka & Kobayashi gave him no choice. For once, he applied himself, and that allowed him to more than hang with the opposition. Takano hurt his calf, accidentally hitting the railing when Kobayashi tossed him to the floor. This improved the match, as it gave some focus to the down spots in between the action. SS Machine wasn't doing anything of note this year either, and he again managed this consistent mediocrity, although as Takano stepped up and it was basically a junior tag match with the other three, rather than actually hurting the match he was just typically non descript. ***3/4
1/6/89 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Big Van Vader & Rip Morgan vs. Antonkio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu 8:57. Intense, fiery performances from Fujinami, Choshu, Bigelow, & Vader had the Hall rocking from start to finish. A thoroughly enjoyable little match. Though ultimately it didn't go anywhere and had the most predictable finish of Inoki over Morgan, it left you wanting more. **
1/10/89 Chiba Koen Taiikukan
Masa Saito & Hiroshi Hase vs. Antonio Inoki & Shiro Koshinaka 17:57. I expected a lot more from this match than they gave me. They wrestled as though it were a really long match. It was slow and had no intensity. That would have been okay if it ever actually picked up. I could have lived with Saito & Inoki killing time if Hase & Koshinaka were being themselves, but they seemed sucked into the complete indifference. *1/4
Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Tatsumi Fujinami 4:27. A peculiar match. It was going as planned and seemed on the way to being a good one when Bigelow ascended to the top rope, and just fell off! He seemed okay when Fujinami back body dropped him, but I guess his selling of his shoulder after his crash landing may have been legit because he shockingly failed to kick out of Fujinami's weight shift vertical suplex counter. Fujinami had a priceless look of disbelief when the ref raised his hand in victory. DUD
Riki Choshu vs. Big Van Vader
1/16/89 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Super Strong Machine & George Takano vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Antonio Inoki
1/16/89 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Hiroshi Hase 16:40. Well focused technical match with sporadic spots to spice things up. Hase worked over Koshinaka's lower left leg for the bulk. When Koshinaka finally came back, he tried a diving kneedrop to the floor with very little setup, only to reinjure himself. After sustaining more legwork, Koshinaka finally hit his Dragon suplex and thought he had the pin because he couldn't see Hase grab the ropes. This brought on a thrilling, but exceptionally short finishing sequence, culminating in a lucky victory for Koshinaka as he turned Hase's Northern Light suplex into a small package. Hase was disgusted he'd dominated the entire match only to lose like this, petitioning for a rematch. ***3/4
Riki Choshu vs. Big Van Vader
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow
1/20/89 Kumamoto-shi Taiikukan: Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Big Van Vader vs. Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami
1/20/89 Kumamoto-shi Taiikukan
George Takano vs. Shiro Koshinaka. joined in progress
Riki Choshu & Hiro Hase vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura
1/26/89
Antonio Inoki & Shiro Koshinaka vs. George Takano & Strong Machine
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Tatsumi Fujinami joined in progress
Big Van Vader vs. Riki Choshu
2/3/89 Yamagata-ken Taiikukan
El (Bello) Greco & (Sergio) El Hermoso vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura
Naoki Sano & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Hiro Hase & Hiro Saito
Antonio Inoki vs. Rip Morgan
Big Van Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami
2/9/89 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Italian Stallion & Rip Morgan vs. George Takano & Super Strong Machine
2/9/89 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
IWGP Tag Title Match: Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Big Van Big Van Vader
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Antonio Inoki
3/3/89 Fukuoka-ken: Super Strong Machine & George Takano vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi
3/3/89 Fukuoka-ken
Antonio Inoki vs. Ron Starr
Vicious Warrior (Sid Vicious) & The Avalanche (P.N. News) vs. Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami
3/7/89 Shimane-ken Masuda Shimin Taiikukan
Super Strong Machine & George Takano vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura
Vicious Warrior vs. Riki Choshu
3/16/89 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan
Carribean Express (Miguel Perez Jr. & Daniel Castillo) (Huracan Castillo) vs. Osamu Kido & Kuniaki Kobayashi
Black Cat vs. Don Arakawa
3/16/89 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan
Antonio Inoki vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Hiroshi Hase
Naoki Sano & Hirokazu Hata vs. Kenichi Oya & Osamu Matsuda
Super Strong Machine & George Takano vs. Riki Choshu & Masa Saito
3/16/89 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan, IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Jerry Lawler
4/13/89 Niigata Joetsu Region Plaza
Norio Honaga vs. Hirokazu Hata
Brian Pillman vs. Masa Saito
Antonio Inoki vs. Shiro Koshinaka
Big Van Vader & Buzz Sawyer & Brad Rhenigans vs. Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura
4/13/89 Niigata Joetsu Region Plaza: Tracy Smothers & Steve Armstrong vs. Super Strong Machine & George Takano
4/24/89 Tokyo Dome
Young Lions Cup Final: Naoki Sano vs. Hiro Saito
IWGP Title Tournament 1st Round: Masahiro Chono vs. Big Van Vader
IWGP Title Tournament 1st Round: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Vladimir Berkovich
IWGP Title Tournament 1st Round: Victor Zangiev vs. Buzz Sawyer
IWGP Title Tournament 1st Round: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Riki Choshu
4/24/89 Tokyo Dome
Super Strong Machine & George Takano vs. Hiroshi Hase & Shiro Koshinaka. Lou Thesz Ref
Jushin Liger Debut: Jushin Liger vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi
Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Salman Hashimikov
5/25/89 Osaka Jo Hall
Naoki Sano & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Hiro Saito
Masa Saito vs. Timur Zalasov
5/25/89 Osaka Jo Hall
IWGP Tag Title Match: Super Strong Machine & George Takano vs. Osamu Kido & Kengo Kimura
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Wakha Evloev
Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Victor Zangiev & Vladimir Berkovich
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Hiroshi Hase vs. Jushin Liger 8:39. Kind of an odd match, as they wanted the title on Liger as soon as possible because he was the new sensation, yet they didn't seem to trust him so Liger was pretty much protected in a short match that Hase totally carried. Hase surprised everyone charging at the bell with a dropkick and using a front suplex to set up a plancha, but soon showed it was going to be his style of diverse technical match rather than a Liger aerial assualt. Hase would have his way with Liger except when Liger would find an opening to use his speed and athleticism to counter than have a burst of flying before Hase countered back. Hase was precise and skilled as ever and Liger was all sorts of scrappy, so the match was fun, albeit not exactly developed. ***
6/10/89 Fukuoka Kokusai Center
Big Van Vader & Italian Stallion vs. Antonio Inoki & Takayuki Iizuka
Jushin Liger vs. Shiro Koshinaka 9:21. It's amazing how much things can change in 6 months. When Yamada challenged on 12/9/88, the division was Koshinaka & Hase plus Owen Hart when he was around, with Yamada in contention but not to the point they were even able to make me believe he was a threat to win. Now Liger is the new sensation soon to be the man, and Koshinaka & Hase are graduating to heavyweight. Or rather, Koshinaka is getting booted out of the division with force, as Liger totally dominates him in this fun little slaughter. Koshinaka is really just there to take Liger's kicks and catch him on his flying moves. The match is really about Liger gaining confidence and becoming comfortable with his new aerial oriented style. ***1/2
Japan vs. Russia 5 Match Series:
Timur Zalasov vs. Tatsumi Fujinami
Wahka Evloev vs. Kengo Kimura
Victor Zangiev vs. Osamu Kido
Vladimir Berkovich vs. Riki Choshu
Salman Hashimikov vs. Masa Saito
3/16/89 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan: Vicious Warrior (Sid Vicious) & The Avalanche (PN News) & Ron Starr vs. Seiji Sekaguchi & Kengo Kimura & Tatsutoshi Goto
5/25/89 Osaka Jo Hall, IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Big Van Vader vs. Salman Hashimikov
6/16/89 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Kengo Kimura vs. Timur Zalasov
Jushin Liger vs. Beef Wellington 7:19. Wellington wasn't the right opponent for Liger, as he's one of those mini musclemen who can't take that well. Liger had to tone things down and revent to they can't screw it up if I just jump at them mode. Wellington had a couple nice power moves, but didn't add to the match, which was very standard. **1/2
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Great Kokina (Maximus)
Big Van Vader & Brad Rheingans vs. Riki Choshu & Masa Saito
7/12/89 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
Big Van Vader vs. Timur Zalasov
Super Strong Machine & George Takano vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Takayuki Iizuka 15:06. Koshinaka, Iizuka, & Takano were juniors who were being used in the heavyweight division, but weren't quite sure what style they wanted to wrestle. The match was fast paced, especially when Koshinaka was in. However, in the early stages they didn't use the pace to any particular advantage, as they were doing unskilled heavyweight striking, so it didn't really help to run first. Once Koshinaka began his hip attacks, the crowd got into it and they continued to do their more junior oriented signature spots until the finish. Koshinaka made the match as usual, but Takano tended to appear to just be doing stuff for the hell of it, for instance doing pushups while in Koshinaka's half crab amidst an otherwise serious match. **1/2
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match 3Min 10Rd: Jushin Liger vs. Black Tiger R5 2:53. Liger was the new ultra athletic superhero, so it was only natural that Black Tiger would be brought in to carry him and help get him over, just as he did for Tiger Mask. Though Rocco is a very talented wrestler, Sayama's matches with Rocco weren't as exciting as his other main rivals, and I wasn't overly thrilled with the direction Rocco took here. He got the crowd to react, but it was largely to his rudo techniques and Liger's subsequent fighting fire with fire rather than Liger's athleticism, which at this point was what made him special. Dives were so much rarer in these days that the entire crowd seemed to stand when Liger ascended to the top for his plancha. Tiger wrestled technically in the first and they got spot happy in the 5th, but in between Tiger was content to employ such deadly manuevers as choking Liger with his towel and attacking him with a plastic bucket of ice. The other aspect that seemed to hinder the match from reaching it's potential was the rounds style, which, more often than not, prevented flow and rendered the action that much more random. ***1/4
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Salman Hashimikov vs. Riki Choshu
7/13/89 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan: Great Kokina vs. Masa Saito
7/13/89 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Naoki Sano 13:55. Liger & Sano kicked off their legendary fued that first announced their arrival at the top level and soon made them household names with this futuristic aerial war, an insane battle of one-upsmanship that always ultimately proved how evenly matched they were because neither could sustain an advantage no matter what risks they took or how much they disregarded their safety. The match was way ahead of its time for highspots, athleticism, and daring, but also had depth because they were able to get across the idea they were so evenly matched they were pushing each other to previously unattained levels of excellent. The fued was so notable for its intensity, starting before the bell even rang as they wouldn't take their eyes off each other, their stone-faced stare unbroken even by a reluctant pre-match handshake. They matched each other's athleticism at the outset to pop the crowd then technical skill exchanging Romero specials. When the ordinary was not enough, they began raising the bar for daring further and further including Liger doing a rolling senton to the floor, Sano vaulting himself over the top rope Kamikaze style with a body press then following with a missile kick to the floor. There was a Sano huracanrana that didn't quite work and then Liger was too close after Sano's backflip out of the corner for Sano to do his rolling heel kick, but otherwise their chemistry was awesome and anything that didn't hit perfectly added to the recklessness factor. The fault of the match is the double knockout finish came out of nowhere because there was no selling to lead up to it. I understand the idea that this level of opposition called for them to do anything they could think of until they succeeded or their body gave out, but because they couldn't really gain an advantage it didn't make sense for them to both suddenly be unable to get up from Sano's avalanche backdrop. The finish drew gasps from the stunned audience that had been going nuts for quite a while; you could sense their disappointment but they soon gave both a good highly appreciative hand. ****1/2
Big Van Vader vs. Salman Hashimikov
IWGP Tag Title Match: Super Strong Machine & George Takano vs. Riki Choshu & Takayuki Iizuka 16:08. Choshu & Iizuka worked hard, but Machine and especially Takano weren't up to the task, so the effort of Choshu's team wound up resulting in them simply outworking the opposition by a wide margin. Iizuka stepped it up, showing he was more than worthy and capable of the big match. He was in suplex and submission mode, trying to use his sambo background to make up for his size and experience disadvantage. Choshu pushed the pace and tried to instill the expected intensity and urgency, but SS Machine gave one of his non descript performances and Takano simply wasn't good. Takano kept overacting and even mistimed his overacting once or twice. His big move was the Neal kick, but he kept connecting with his ass instead of his thigh. **
8/89
Masa Saito vs. Mike Huff
Dick Murdoch vs. Evgeny Artyukhin
8/89 Hamamatsu Shi Taiikukan
Super Strong Machine & George Takano vs. Italian Stallion & Billy Jack (Haynes)
Kendo Nagasaki vs. Hiroshi Hase
9/89 Iwate Ken'ei Taiikukan: Buzz Sawyer & Manny Fernandez vs. Super Strong Machine & George Takano
SUPER POWER BATTLE IN OSAKA 9/20/89 Osaka Jo Hall
Owen Hart vs. Tatsutoshi Goto 11:51. Goto was so outclassed you got the idea even he didn't believe he was a match for Owen. Hart wanted to wrestle a scientific mach, so Goto cheated or brawled when he could just to annoy him. Owen wasn't firing up for this, but was very precise and efficient. Goto was able to follow, and given his limited ability, faired better than expected, certainly wrestling a competent match. **
Kendo Nagasaki & Billy Jack vs. Kengo Kimura & Osamu Kido
Salman Hashimikov vs. Italian Stallion
10/13/89 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Matt Bourne & Great Kokina vs. Super Strong Machine & George Takano
Darryl Peterson (Man Mountain Rock) vs. Osamu Kido
11/24/89 Gunma-ken Sports Center
Salman Hashimikov vs. Hiroshi Hase
Naoki Sano & Kantaro Hoshino & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga
Masahiro Chono vs. Timur Zalasov
Riki Choshu & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Super Strong Machine
11/1/89 Toki-shi Sports Center: Naoki Sano vs. Norio Honaga
11/1/89 Toki-shi Sports Center
Hiroshi Hase & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Great Kokina
Jushin Liger & Masahiro Chono & Riki Choshu vs. Big Van Vader & Tony St. Clair & Tom Pritchard
11/29/89 Ishikawa Sangyo Tenjikan
Hiroshi Hase & Shiro Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Norio Honaga & Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito
Salman Hasimikov vs. George Takano
11/29/89 Ishikawa-ken Sangyo Tenjikan
Steve Williams vs. Osamu Kido
Shinya Hashimoto & Super Strong Machine vs. Riki Choshu & Masahiro Chono
Manny Fernandez vs. Andrei Sulsaev
12/6/89 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
George Takano & Super Strong Machine vs. Kunaki Kobayashi & Hiroshi Hase
Shiro Koshinaka & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Norio Honaga
1/18/90 Yamaguchi Toyama Shi Taiikukan
IWGP Junior Next Challenger Decision League Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Hiro Saito 12:53. This is the Liger we are used to with the red mask, red and white body suit, and Thunder as his middle name. Hiro heels it up, introducing a chair, and Liger is more than happy to give it back to him, even piledriving Saito on a table. Hiro is not the least bit spectacular but nonetheless effective on offense as he usually was in the early 90's, having enough impact on his suplexes and senton to be credible. He will never have a match of the year, but he's fine for minor matches, the thing is they should be minor heavyweight matches. The downside of Hiro is woefully apparent here, as he doesn't have nearly enough athleticism for the junior division. He can't take a decent bump off the middle rope, and more importantly, he lacks the flexibility for even simple counters into basic pins, which by the way kills the finish of the match. Despite Liger having to dumb down and Hiro's girth getting in the way a few times, the match was both effective and entertaining. Unfortunately, it just kind of ended when you thought it was about to take off. **3/4
Big Van Vader & Great Kokina vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Saito
Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Riki Choshu
1/25/90 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
IWGP Junior Next Challenger Decision League Match: Black Tiger vs. Owen Hart 12:30. The biggest drawback of Owen Hart is, although the guy had all the talent in the world, he would so often do just enough to make the match good. Tiger wasn't exactly doing anything to get him out of that mindset either, in fact he wasn't doing much beyond setting Hart up. Despite the brevity, there were a lot of restholds early. They did surround these with some nice stuff though. Actually, the match was looking promising with Owen bouncing all around, pulling off a kip up or backflip out of much of what Tiger could hold him with, but it was somewhat derailed when Owen couldn't get up for his leapfrog and thus took a headbutt to the groin, which didn't do wonders for Tiger's neck, either. They slowed down to recover when they'd normally be speeding up, and by the time they were ready to go, the match was almost over. **3/4
IWGP Junior Next Challenger Decision League Match: Jushin Liger v Akira Nogami 11:59. Nogami had the athleticism, and Liger was of the mindset to carry him. Nogami wasn't wrestling with a great deal of confidence, slowing down to make sure he knew the next spot, but he generally faired well. Liger sold a lot for him, especially early on to give him credibility. The fans weren't reacting, but I thought it was a fun little match. It was weird seeing Liger win with an Argentine backbreaker, as it was not only out of nowhere, but I don't recall him even using the move before. ***
1/25/90 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Super Strong Machine
Riki Choshu & Hiroshi Hase vs. Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Hiro Saito
Big Van Vader vs. Masahiro Chono
1/31/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
Hiroshi Hase vs. Masahiro Chono
Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. George Takano & Riki Choshu
1/31/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Senshuken Jiai: Naoki Sano vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 20:00. The ultimate climactic battle, the greatest junior heavyweight match bringing perfect indecisive closure to the greatest junior heavyweight feud of all-time. Not merely a grudge match of epic purportions, but right up there with Akira Hokuto vs. Shinbobu Kandori 4/2/93 as the greatest ever. Not simply state of the art wrestling with awesome drama and great intensity, but the measuring stick. An extremely rich and deep match, with great single match story and psychology, but also playing off the entire brilliant feud in many ways. Heel Sano offers to put the past behind them at least long enough for a display of pre-match goodwill only to get embarrassed when Liger slaps him across the face. Liger roughs up his incited opponent, but Sano quickly exerts his will, proceeding to control 90% of the contest. Roughing Liger up and mauling him, Sano uses a piledriver on the floor and in-ring tombstone to set up embarrassing him by ripping his sacred mask. Posting Liger until he bleeds, Sano is soon at his cockiest, not wanting to settle for a simple pin, but wanting to prove a point and knock his opponent out. Their first singles meeting on 7/13/89 ended in a double KO, but this time Sano is going to drain his opponent of his lifeforce if not his blood and pummel him until he can no longer stand. Sano nearly succeeds with moves such as the superplex. Liger finally makes a hot comeback, introducing his flying into the match, but it’s suitably short lived. The match is about making the prospects of Liger’s victory look as bleak as humanly possible. At the same time, Liger’s refusal to surrender despite losing a bucket of blood subtly shifts Sano into deciding the victory is more important than the manner, as the belt is what proves he’s the best and will make the fans and promotion eventually see it. The selling is quite simply amazing, more toward Misawa & Kawada dominated All Japan heavyweights from a few years later than anything we'd expect from juniors before or since, with Liger down for lengthy periods as a good deal of drama is placed on each attempt to simply stand. In the best hope spot, Sano tries to take it to the next level with a superplex with both standing on the top, but Liger saves himself by shifting his weight to land on top, though he’s still unable to gain control. Liger’s inability to mount an offensive continues until the final seconds of the match when he counters Sano’s huracanrana with a Ligerbomb. Everything we are used to about pro wrestling tells us Liger will turn it on now, but the series is about making stars of both wrestlers, so even though it’s the blowoff Liger isn’t going to prove true superiority. He’s a beaten down man with nothing left, so he decides to go for broke, positioning Sano with a tombstone and delivering his shooting star press. Liger wins because he has the greatest move and was able to will himself, or simply lucky enough, to hang around long enough to execute it. *****
IWGP Tag Title Match: Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Big Van Vader & Great Kokina
2/10/1990 Tokyo Dome:
Naoki Sano & Pegasus Kid vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Akira Nogami 7:14 of 16:54. The final chapter in the amazing Liger vs. Sano fued, but they didn't face off with near the intensity we saw in their previous 4 singles matches, and the match was ultimately notable for the arrival of Pegasus. Pegasus was solid, certainly a few steps above Nogami, but not nearly in the class with Sano. It was a good state of the art junior match, though really rather standard for the first 13 minutes. The final 4 minutes was like a different, potentially exceptional match, heated and intense with great offense. Considering it was the Tokyo Dome, aka the mausoleum of juniors, I was surprised at how loud the audience was as soon as the finishing sequence kicked in. The offense was quite impressive, but the match had been very average for these guys up to that point, and wasn't exactly building to the explosion. ***1/2
Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto & Norio Honaga vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Kantaro Hoshino
Steve Williams vs. Salman Hashimikov
Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Riki Choshu & George Takano
2/10/90 Tokyo Dome, AWA Heavyweight Title Match: Masa Saito vs. Larry Zbyszko
1/30/90 Gifu Tenjikan
Tatsutshi Goto & Super Strong Machine vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & George Takano
IWGP Junior Next Challenger Decision League Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Owen Hart
Big Van Vader & Great Kokina & Brad Rheingans vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono & Riki Choshu
1/30/90: Masa Saito & Hiroshi Hase vs. Osamu Kido & Kengo Kimura
3/2/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Wild Pegasus & Cheetah Kid vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Takayuki Iizuka 6:34 of 8:10. Entertaining little sprint. Liger was more motivated here, and beginning to get into a groove with Pegasus. These two are very good, and Cheetah, while hardly great, is at least more than happy to catipult his body.
Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Saito vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Punisher Dice Morgan (The Undertaker)
Super Strong Machine vs. George Takano
Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Riki Choshu & Masahiro Chono
3/5/90: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Cheetah Kid (Ted "Rocco Rock" Petty) 9:24. Cheetah had a way of making everything look at least a bit awkward. For such a good athlete, he was rather mechanical and, next to Liger, came off as nothing more than an imposter indy junior. The match was very much of the you do your spots and I do mine variety. Liger tried, but they had no chemistry. *3/4
3/5/90
George Takano & Masahiro Chono vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito
Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Larry Cameron vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Riki Choshu
3/15/90
Hiroshi Hase & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Norio Honaga & Hiro Saito 14:46. Simple, effective match with Blond Outlaws controlling through shady methods, setting up brief bursts of hot offense from Liger & Hase. Blond Outlaws jumped Liger & Hase before the bell and generally roughed them up, quickly cutting them off with a low blow or double team everytime they seemed to gain momentum. Liger eventually had enough, taking a chair to Saito then jumping off the top to stuff Hase's piledriver. Hase & Liger were very good, and Honaga & Saito were able to stay within their element. ***1/4
Masa Saito & Koji Kitao vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Punisher Dice Morgan
3/15/90
Masa Chono & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Larry Cameron & The Barbarian (John Nord)
Seiji Sakaguchi Retirement Match: Scott Hall & Mike Kirchner vs. Seiji Sekaguchi & Kengo Kimura
Riki Choshu & George Takano vs. Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto
3/19/90 Hiroshima Kenritsu Taiikukan: Hiroshi Hase & George Takano & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Norio Honaga & Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito 14:50. Though you want your main heel to not merely dominate, but strike fear in the audience's heart, what you really want from your other heels is to be annoying so they'll elicit fiery performances from the faces. Blond Outlaws jumping the faces at the bells, and taking their shortcuts only served to motivate the opposition, who wrestled with a spark. The difference in Takano was most noticable, as he's prone to being lackadaisical. You knew the match was working when you heard the audience's reaction to the faces all putting the boots to Goto at once. Fun and effective match. ***1/4
4/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Tatsutoshi Goto & Super Strong Machine vs. George Takano & Masahiro Chono
Koji Kitao vs. Mike Kirchner
Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Larry Cameron vs. Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto
4/27/90 Tokyo Bay NK Hall
Kengo Kimura vs. Osamu Kido
Jushin Thunder Liger & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto 9:18. Minor entry in the Liger vs. Blond Outlaws program. Liger is super over, getting reaction to everything he does, especially his flying. There's surprisingly little reaction to Outlaws double teams and low blows though. It's like the fans boo them once, then realize that's all these guys can do. Liger got a big pop for laying kicks into Hiro's chest until he released his Boston crab on Kensuke though. **
Super Strong Machine vs. Shiro Koshinka 10:46. This wasn't their finest moment. It had a few brief good segments, but they weren't clicking. Koshinaka missed a leap frog and hurt his ankle landing on his feet to counter a suplex. Machine worked the ankle, and I guess this played into the finish as Machine kinda grabs the ankle in midair to counter Koshinaka's hip attack, but it doesn't look like much. *1/2
5/5/90 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito vs. Hiroshi Hase & Apollo Sugawara 16:34. Starts in the requisite Blond Outlaws manner with them jumping before the bell, but rather than the typical shady domination, Saito winds up doing quite a bit of selling. Sugawara has the posture of the thuggish bodyguard who can't get out of his own way, but althogh he lacks grace, he does his moves well enough. Still, you are begging Hase not to tag because he's the best wrestler in the match by miles, and is elevating the quality quite a bit without much assistance. Hase's enthusiasm keeps the crowd involved in this rather ordinary match. Finish doesn't really work, as although Blond Outlaws aren't getting their way as usual, this is one of those rejects from the pre-UWF era where they seemingly just pick an indescriminate time to end it via screw job. In this case, Animal Hamaguchi tooks the opportunity to flash his diving elbow. **1/4
Kensuke Sasaki vs. Masahiko Takasugi
Shiro Koshinka vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 16:52. Intense match in the style of the Koshinaka era, mixing UWF strikes and submissions with energetic running segments. Liger starts in full martial arts mode, blistering Koshinaka with kicks and now adding the shotei to his arsenal. There's a few too many indescriminate submissions, but these two are so motivated the time always passes quickly. They are also smart, doing something to pick the crowd up in between stretching each other out. Koshinaka might not have the best high spots, but his speed and enthusiam more than make up for it, and he always winds up getting some of the best crowd reactions. The fans are really hot down the stretch, but as with many of the junior matches of this era, it ends just when you begin to think it has the potential to be something special. ***3/4
Masahiro Chono & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Masa Saito & Riki Choshu
5/24/90 Tokyo Bay NK Hall
Hiroshi Hase vs. Norio Honaga 11:13. Match is just kind of there. Honaga is fine in tag, but has yet to figure out how to work around his lack of offense in singles. He has the advantage too much, and it hurts the match. Hase also isn't into this one as much as usual. **
Jushin Thunder Liger & Osamu Kido & Kengo Kimura vs. Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto 13:45. Liger was a real spark plug, working brief fast paced segments that ignited the audience. He was singlehandedly making the match, which was lucky as he wasn't getting much help. Saito was the best on the heel side, taking a lot and showing something beyond the Blood Outlaw standard when he was on offense. Kimura wasn't doing much to distinguish himself from the heels, and Kido can always pop the crowd with his couple of over moves, but doesn't deliver a whole lot else. **3/4
5/28/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
Kensuke Sasaki & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Apollo Sugawara vs. Animal Hamaguchi & Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto
Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Steve Williams 9:46. This battle of the super heavyweight gaijins had promise, but never really came off. They began structuring the match around parity spots, building up to who could knock each other down first. Williams nearly died when Bigelow couldn't bend low enough for Williams to leap frog him. Okay, I exaggerate, but Williams was down for two minutes, shoeing Bigelow away every time Bam Bam tried to restart the match. Eventually, when he was ready to go, Williams did the Chono reverse kick to the balls to make things even. The intensity picked up tremendously as they exchanged stiff shots, but that lead to them brawling on the outside forever. I kept getting ready to get pissed that it was going to be a countout, doubly so since with the interruption, they really hadn't even got going yet. The ref ignored that part, but then disqualified Williams for repeated chair shots once they'd reentered. Bigelow bladed, and they continued brawling until Williams had to be restrained because he'd beaten Bigelow helpless, but still this was really just the concept of these two having a wrestling match.
Big Van Vader vs. Koji Kitao
5/28/90 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
IWGP Tag Title Match: Keiji Muto & Masa Chono vs. Hiroshi Hase & Shiro Koshinaka 21:01. A nice combination of Chono and Hase's old school technical style with Muto & Koshinaka's fast paced junior match, getting excellent contributions across the board. The match built slowly, with Chono & Hase being the driving forces in the scientific early stages. The scientific wrestling was very well executed, but generally meandered as it lacked story or focus to either give it meaning or make us believe in the moves as finishers. The match would pick up when Muto & Koshinaka came in, but they saved most of the spots for the later portion. In stages, they picked up the pace and incorporated more spots until they were generally sprinting in the final minutes, apart from an attempt at a legit submission finisher such as Chono's STF. The fans were into it all the way, not showing any particular allegiance, but rather supporting whoever was losing or exciting them at that particular moment. ***3/4
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Riki Choshu 13:34. Although a bit on the short side, this is my favorite of the Hashimoto/Choshu matches I've seen. Their matches are always brutal fights, wars really, so the offense is more or less the same, but I like how they structured this one, and it resulted in awesome reactions to every notable event. Though Choshu is the legend and previous IWGP Heavyweight Champion whereas Hashimoto is more than 3 years away from his first title run, Hashimoto did defeat Choshu at the Tokyo Dome on 4/24/89, and they use that and his generally overwhelming toughness to play the match as though he's the favorite and Choshu is the underdog. Choshu was fine when he could tie Hashimoto up, though that doesn't provide any offense of interest, but lost every toe to toe battle because his headbutts were no match for Hashimoto's kicks and chops. He basically had to concede this fact, and figure out a surprise attack in order to go on a run. Choshu finally scored, catching a charging Hashimoto by laying him out with a wicked elbow. The good news for Choshu is he was able to bully Hashimoto once he seized an advantage. However, once Hashimoto countered with a DDT, he effortlessly resumed devouring Choshu. Choshu again had to pull something out of the hat, countering a charging Hashimoto, this time with his Riki lariat. Choshu totally unloaded on Hashimoto, using multiple Riki lariats, the diving kneedrop, sasorigatame, all his mainstays and anything he can think up. Hashimoto again had trouble regaining the momentum once Choshu was rolling, but could take everything Choshu can throw at him, and was simply too brutal and powerful for Choshu to handle. The result was another upset that went a long way toward solidifying Hashimoto's upper card status because at no time did the match ever feel like an upset, it instead felt like an inevitability, and that's really to Choshu's credit, as unlike the fluke during the IWGP Heavyweight Title Tournament, he put Hashimoto all the way over in this one. ***3/4
6/12/90 Fukuoka Sports Center: Keiji Muto vs. Masahiro Chono 26:26. A Chono style technical match of the slowest and dullest variety, the match quite simply dragged and was ultimately about as soporific as Muto vs. white Chono can get. Supposedly built around parity, it often seemed to have the motto "I can do nothing just as well as you." It was several steps down from what Chono was doing with Hase on 5/28/90, which is surprising even given how much better than Hase is on the mat than Muto. Thought Muto can be counted on to work a knee, the sort of continuity that was missing in the 5/28/90 tag, he is also at least as willing as Chono to lay around and do next to nothing, whereas Hase has a much better sense of when to move on to a different hold or leave the mat entirely. Chono eventually took Muto's knee, primarily with figure 4's, but most of this was getting little to no reaction as the activity level was generally very low. When they finally stood up, they did stereo dropkicks but Muto's elbow defeated Chono's jumping elbow and he put him away with the moonsault. **
6/26/90 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Kengo Kimura vs. The Soultaker
Owen Hart vs. Pegasus Kid 12:10. I wish these two would have had more matches, as you could see the potential for greatness, but they lacked the familiarity with one another, and mainly Benoit lacked the belief. It started great with Pegasus really taking it to Owen, guerrila pressing him to the floor and following with a snap suplex. Owen tried to use his speed to counteract Pegasus' power, but got caught in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. This woke Owen up, and he began showing Pegasus he could be as stiff and powerful as him. For whatever reason, Pegasus lost his confidence as soon as Owen took over and began carrying the match. Pegasus didn't look at home during much of the body, which mixed Owen's gymnastic counters with too many rest holds. Though they hadn't developed their chemistry, causing a moment or two of uncertainty, Pegasus was really on early and nothing happened that should have changed this. Luckily, Pegasus got it back for the finish, surprisingly kicking out of the moonsault then scoring the big upset, knocking Owen out with the nadare shiki backdrop. ***3/4
Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Steve Williams
2/3 Falls: Riki Choshu & Kensuke Sasaki & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Shiro Koshinaka & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Animal Hamaguchi & Strong Machine & Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto & Masanobu Kurisu
6/26/90 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan: Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto
6/30/90 Nagano Ueda Shimin Taiikukan
Masahiro Chono vs. The Soultaker
Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Owen Hart vs. Steve Williams & Pegasus Kid
Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Animal Hamaguchi & Tatsutoshi Goto & Masanobu Kurisu
6/30/90 Nagano Ueda Shimin Taiikukan: Keiji Muto vs. Brad Rheingans
7/5/90 Iwate-ken
Masa Saito vs. Steve Williams
Masahiro Chono & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Brad Rheingans & Pegasus Kid
Keiji Muto vs. Owen Hart
Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & The Soultaker
7/22/90 Sapporo Tsukisama Green Dome
Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Masanobu Kurisu
Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs. Great Kokina & Wild Samoan
Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Animal Warrior & Hawk Warrior
8/16/90 Chiba Koen Taiikukan
Jushin Thunder Liger & Kensuke Sasaki & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto & Pegasus Kid
Animal Hamaguchi vs. Masanobu Kurisu
Riki Choshu & Kengo Kimura vs. Mike Enos & Wayne Bloom 8:53
8/19/90 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Saito vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & The Soultaker
2/3 Falls: Masanobu Kurisu & Hiroshi Itakura & Ryuma Go & Masashi Aoyagi & Masahiko Takasugi vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Super Strong Machine & Animal Hamaguchi & Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga
9/14/90 Hiroshima Sun Plaza
Masahiro Chono & Masa Saito vs. The Great Kokina & Wild Samoan
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Big Van Vader
9/14/90 Hiroshima Sun Plaza
Riki Choshu & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Takayuki Iizuka
Hiroshi Hase vs. The Great Muta
9/30/90 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena
IWGP Junior Title Next Challenger Decision Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Villano V
Exhibition Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Shiro Koshinaka
9/30/90 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena
Masahiro Chono vs. TNT
Great Muta vs. Ricky Steamboat
10/25/90 Green Dome Maebashi
Tiger Jeet Singh vs. Big Van Vader
Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi
1/90 Chiba Koen Taiikukan: Keiji Muto & Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono vs. Big Van Vader & The Soultaker & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow
10/25/90 Green Dome Maebashi
Jushin Thunder Liger & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Masashi Aoyagi & Masahiko Takasugi
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Larry Cameron
Kensuke Sasaki vs. Masahiro Chono
10/25/90 Green Dome Maebashi: Hiroshi Hase vs. Keiji Muto
10/29/90
Jushin Thunder Liger & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Hiro Saito & Pegasus Kid
Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto
Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Masanobu Kurisu
10/29/90
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Animal Hamaguchi
Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Saito vs. Big Van Vader & Larry Cameron & Bad News Brown
11/28/90 Fukuoka Hakata Starlanes
Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Saito
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ryuma Go
11/28/90 Fukuoka Hakata Starlanes
Masanobu Kurisu vs. Hiro Saito
Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto
12/3/90 Baghdad Iraq: Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki
12/7/90 Kanagawa
Jushin Thunder Liger & Takayuki Iizuka & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga
Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Andrei Sulsaev & Chimur Zarasov
12/7/90 Kanagawa
Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Masa Saito & Kuniaki Kobayashi
Riki Choshu & Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase vs. Brad Rheingans & Bad News Brown & Scott Norton
12/11/90 Nagoya Rainbow Hall
Masa Saito vs. Scott Norton
Keiji Muto vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow
IWGP Tag Title Match: Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto
12/11/90 Nagoya Rainbow Hall: Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Riki Choshu & Osamu Kido & Kuniaki Kobayashi 11:43. With Fujinami, Koshinaka, Iizuka, & Kobayashi you basically had a who’s who of (former) juniors who are quick and willing to push the pace, but don't possess great offense. Choshu isn't as athletic, but bursts of energy define his heavyweight tag style. The offense was expectedly pretty basic, but the pace could have been a little better, especially since the match was on the short side. The heat was on Fujinami vs. Choshu, and they worked with each other enough to content the crowd, with Kobayashi, Iizuka & Koshinaka doing most of the running around. A decent effort and match, but nothing substantial. **
12/13/90 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Masa Saito vs. Ax Demolition 6:05. There wasn’t even an instance of skill on display in this WWF style match where Ax kept escaping to the floor for breathers, 6 minutes being a real iron man challenge and all. The match finally started when Saito went to the floor too for some brawling then they did some more punches in the ring and it mercifully ended soon after that. DUD
Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Bad News Brown 13:18. A huge disappointment. Muto & Chono weren’t bad, they simply had little opportunity to do anything useful since Bad News was in full WWF street fighter gimmick and Bigelow was choosing to be lazy and join in the punching and headbutting. The gaijins were on the offensive for 85% of the match, with Muto & Chono mainly standing around waiting to get hit. As the match was merely striking, and they weren’t even exchanging strikes, it was incredibly methodical with no timing or flow. There was one good spot where Bad News hit his ghetto blaster on Muto but chose to taunt, allowing Chono to sneak up from behind with one of his own, but that was about it. *
IWGP Tag Title Match: Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Takayuki Iizuka 21:11. Could look like an excellent match with the right editing, but the structuring was somewhat crude and it took too long to get going. The majority of the match was disappointing, technically sound and certainly not bad but rather slow and not particularly intense. The main theme was Iizuka working on Hase’s knee, but without much in the way of a transition, they dropped the matwork and picked the pace up five notches, exchanging signature spots. Almost all the NJPW matches of this period had finishes that were much faster paced and more spot oriented than the rest of the match, and the crowd was really hot for this final portion. It's not that it wasn't quite good, but it was one of the most offensive examples of the general problem with the promotions matches of the period in that it really had little to do with the rest of the match. ***
12/13/90 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan: Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs. Riki Choshu & Osamu Kido 16:13. A Choshu match needs to be inspired because its primary strengths are energy, emotion, and intensity. There was a little interplay and hatred, with Kimura & Choshu getting into it at the outset, but as a whole, this one wasn’t. so they weren’t able to make you forget how basic it was. Everyone was okay, but it was all rather standard. *3/4
taped 1/4/91 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito 14:24. Muto & Chono were fairly motivated, and the match got off to a good start with the duo dominating Saito. Saito selling is never a particularly good thing, but he also has by far the worst offense in the match, which is usually the case if he's not teaming with Goto, so even though you can’t win with him, at least Muto & Chono were on the move. The match slowed considerably in the middle with some kneework on Chono leading to his hot tag, where Muto did a whole two moves before letting Chono close it out. No one was anywhere near outstanding, but they were all on and into making it an acceptable match. **1/2
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Matthew Rambo 4:35. Despite it being a total throwaway, they didn’t seem to consider mailing it in. Rambo leans toward the awkward and clumsy side, but made a genuine effort, and Fujinami was showing some fire. It was far from the most graceful work, but it was passable. Fujinami seemed poised for the quick win when Vader snuck in behind him and broke up his Dragon sleeper. Vader wasn’t helping Rambo, who he soon knocked to the floor with a lariat, but rather wanted to get a headstart on his heavyweight title match with Fujinami on 3/4/91.
Riki Choshu & Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Big Van Vader & TNT & Mark Laurinaitis 8:35. Great booking, using an insubstantial small show match to advance the feuds and set up the big matches. Because it was done so well, it seemed important and as if you’d actually seen something, when neither was really the case. Not great wrestling by any means, but extremely effective because they had a firm grasp of how to play up the rivalries the audience cared about. There was tremendous heat on Vader vs. the natives, which they exploited from pre match to post match. Vader pretty much made the match, having intense if not overly stiff exchanges with Hashimoto & Choshu. No one cared about his partners, but the reaction to even wobbling Vader was impressive. Vader’s team lost, but he was still ready to have a go at any or all of the natives afterwards, and Fujinami wound up jumping Vader this time and brawling around the arena with him. It’s hard to rate this match because it wasn’t good or complete in any traditional manner, but it was so heated and intense when Vader was in that you were riveted throughout. ***
2/5/91 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. David “Fit” Finlay 9:27. An odd and disappointing match. They didn’t seem to have much timing or chemistry when they did work together, so after a couple off spots Finlay seemed to avoid sequences and counters as much as possible. They ultimately did so few spots where they actually worked together Finlay might as well have been wrestled a doll for the first 8 minutes. Finlay totally dominated Liger, stomping his hands and attacked his joints. His offense was precise rather than stiff. It was okay, but he didn’t do anything that was really impressive or brutal. The match got a little better at the end when Liger finally offered something in return, but they still didn’t seem to have a feel for one another. **
2/5/91 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Keiji Muto vs. Ax Demolition
Scott Norton vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Osamu Kido
Riki Choshu vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
3/6/91 Nagasaki Kokusai Taiikukan: Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Big Van Vader & Bad News Allen
3/6/91 Nagasaki Kokusai Taiikukan, IWGP Tag Title Match: Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki 19:15. A fired up Hase gave a top notch performance, showing some of the best offense in the NJPW heavyweight division, doing an excellent job of depicting how his physical condition was effecting his wrestling, and generally keeping the fans into a match they had some reason to be frustrated with. Unfortunately, Hase didn’t get that much help, as Machine & Saito seemed to specialize in killing time. Though they ultimately transitioned from there into an effective attack on Sasaki’s knee, they relied way too heavily on filler such as brawling strikes and non threatening submissions. Hase managed to make the ordinary dramatic, and eventually the other three began to wrestle with conviction. Unfortunately, this didn’t occur until Sasaki’s hot tag, which was practically the end of the match. If Machine or even Sasaki would have wrestled with more fervor, it could have been damn good, rather than merely meeting the acceptable level. ***
3/4/91 Hiroshima Sun Plaza, IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Big Van Vader vs. Tatsumi Fujinami 3:37 of 13:14. They seemed to bring their A game for this one, stepping up the pace and giving highly motivated performances. The fans bought into their emotion, as well as the high quality of the match, or at least going nuts for the finishing sequence. I enjoyed the style Fujinami employed against the Big man, vaulting his body at him with running and jumping attacks to put him down and then working for an arm submission. Fujinami’s left knee was injured before they joined the match, so Fujinami was hopping around when he ran the ropes, but Vader wasn’t attacking it anymore, as he'd moved on to his finishers. He was just using his size and strength to maul Fujinami when he could catch or corner him. Vader finally snatched Fujinami out of the air, trying to counter his diving body attack with a powerslam, but Fujinami recountered with a small package for the win. It looked like a memorable match, but most of these matches that are complete sputter and meander along and then suddenly catch fire for the final few minutes, so I’m hesitant to get too excited about a clip which only shows the portion of the match they are guaranteed to show up for.
3/14/91 Nagoya Rainbow Hall: Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Takayuki Iizuka 24:10. They did the desperate and energetic match they should have done when they met for the titles on 12/13/90. Universally better performances from all parties, with Hase being particularly excellent. Koshinaka vs. Hase was by far the best, with the longtime rivals showing excellent chemistry. Iizuka was excited to have an opponent that could actually go on the mat, and threw all his sambo techniques at Hase, while using more junior offense against Sasaki. It was the best performance I’ve seen from Iizuka in quite a while. Though the match slowed some in the middle, they were stiffer than expected to make up for it. As they picked the pace up again, the match kept looking as though it were about to end, but it continued to go back and forth for quite a while. ***3/4
3/14/91 Nagoya Rainbow Hall
Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Big Van Vader & Super Strong Machine 13:53. Vader is still a ways away from becoming the greatest fat man in the history of wrestling, but one of the reasons he was able to attain that status is he possesses the desire of a half pint who everyone repeatedly told didn’t have a chance of making it. Vader always brings it, and since he has so much push and heat on him, his opponents always bring it against him. Choshu & Fujinami could get away with a mediocre performance, but because it’s Vader they are wrestling with intensity and urgency. Vader really is the perfect big man for the Choshu style of match because he doesn’t have a lot of big moves at this point, but he loves to work fast (even if he stands and the opponents charge him) and clobber people. Choshu was on top of his game today, not showing any particular skill, but giving an energetic performance that was extremely efficient, showing great timing that got him his pops. Machine was better than he’s been of late, but doesn’t fit the match because he’s so flat, showing no energy or emotion. Fujinami may have been legitimately stunned from a sandwich lariat because Choshu got away with saving him and rolling him to the side of the ring, continuing as if a legal tag had been made. Choshu went 2-1 while Fujinami lay on the apron for around 3 minutes, but Fujinami looked fine when he made the hot tag to finish off the match. ***1/4
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Norio Honaga 10:18. An effective little match that got sidetracked at the end. Honaga was at his most merciless, injuring Liger’s ribs immediately by laying him out on the guard rail and working them over throughout with actual wrestling such as the stomach breaker and some good old fashioned chair shots. Honaga is far from the ideal junior, but his lack of skilled offense didn’t hurt this match to the normal extent because his kicks and stomps were all directed at the injured area. What hurt the match was Liger failing to do a particularly convincing job of selling the rib injury, particularly in the later stages. Honaga would immediately cut Liger off with a shot to the tender area, but Liger finally came back, bloodying Honaga on the turnbuckle whose padding he removed. Saito distracted Liger to end his nice little run, and then they went home at least 5 minutes too soon with a finish that needed to be explained. It looked as though the ref counted three, but everyone pretended someone rang the bell at two. The stunned ref awarded the bout to Honaga, and it was soon revealed that Liger’s next challenger, Akira Nogami, was sitting at the timekeeper’s table. Liger’s injury should have been enough reason for Honaga to beat Liger, the Saito distraction was somewhat unnecessary and the whole Nogami deciding the outcome out of nowhere bit was just silly. Focusing on what’s next is obviously good in theory, but it just stole Honaga’s thunder. If they had to have Nogami play a role, I would rather have had him distract Liger and Honaga take him right out with a shot to the ribs. ***
Keiji Muto vs. Mike Rotundo 9:40. I figured this could be incredibly boring because Muto doesn’t usually need much impetus to play for time, and few wrestlers are more prone to stalling than Rotundo. Muto surprised me though, counteracting Rotundo’s restmissions as well as one could hope. Rotundo would tie him up, but Muto would push the pace whenever he broke free. It was nothing extraordinary, but they did a solid job of following a basic premise from start to finish. **
3/21/91 Tokyo Dome
Kengo Kimura & Osamu Kido & Kantaro Hoshino & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga 12:10. I have no idea what the purpose of this match was beyond getting a bunch of guys on the show. There was no particular story or heat to the old generation wrestling the new generation, and the match just kind of went along without developing, well, anything. They switched often, but the lack of guys who gave well or received well was extremely limiting. There weren’t many quality moves and no one seemed to wrestle enough to find their rhythm, much less get on any sort of roll. They seemed to try, but didn’t know how to use the numbers to their advantage, so it wound up falling into the trap of the baseball all star game, just giving everyone an at bat and whatever happened, happened. *
Scott Norton vs. Equalizer 2:23. Saturday morning enhancement at the Tokyo Dome? They matched Norton against a gaijin who was as tall, and had him run right through him. Norton capped it off by not catching Equalizer properly on his powerslam finisher, resulting in there being less impact than placing a throw rug. DUD
3/21/91 Tokyo Dome
Shiro Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Brian Pillman & Tom Zenk & Tim Horner
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Akira
Arn Anderson & Barry Windham vs. Masahiro Chono & Masa Saito
Great Muta vs. Sting
3/21/91 Tokyo Dome
Greatest 18 Club No Time Limit No Referee: Riki Choshu vs. Tiger Jeet Singh 11:07. Any match with Singh is a worst match of the year candidate, unless the inclusion of Singh simply disqualifies it from counting as actual wrestling. The only highlight of his latest abortion was Choshu bending Singh’s toy sword into a bow shape, which had me laughing long enough to spare me from some of the torture. Choshu tried his best to take this seriously, but as Singh may not even understand wrestling, he was mostly forced to just play along with the aimless brawling. Singh began by attacking the timekeeper for interrupting his endless traipsing about by ringing the bell, and busted Choshu open almost immediately. Singh bled heavily as well, so between the novelty of a double juice brawl and the audience’s frustration with Singh beating up wimpy officials and using weapons on their beloved Choshu, they took their anger out on Singh in the manner the wrestlers hoped rather than laughing this circus crap out of the building. Choshu actually used his signature moves at the finish, not that Singh can even take a lariat decently. The crowd went nuts when Choshu put Singh in an armbar after the match. -*
NWA Heavyweight & IWGP Heavyweight Double Title Match: Tatsumi Fujinami (IWGP champ) vs. Ric Flair (NWA champ) 23:06. These two wrestled their age, and then some. Flair’s lack of subtlety was so out of place. The harder he tried to get a reaction by overdoing every mannerism, the more he was greeted with utter silence. Flair looked a lot older than Fujinami, but Fujinami was suddenly lazy, doing one rest or submission hold after another in the first half. Flair began wrestling, and it was decent, but still flat. They just seemed to lack motivation, or at least they were unable to convey any semblance of intensity, emotion or enthusiasm that would get the crowd into it. They had some good chop exchanges, but nobody cared. Fujinami busting Flair open by repeatedly ramming his head into the guard rail helped a little. The match actually seemed to be gaining a little momentum when there was a ref bump of all things, on Bill Alfonso of all referees to be officiating a Tokyo Dome main event. Fujinami pinned Flair, but Alfonso was no where to be found. Flair kicked out of a second pin in time, not that it mattered, and Fujinami wound up “accidentally” back body dropping Flair to the floor. Alfonso still missed this, but when Fujinami went for another pin a Japanese official came in and counted the fall. As it was Fujinami who scored the victory, the finish didn’t go over too poorly. Overall though, it just seemed the wrong version of each wrestler doing the wrong match for the wrong crowd. It wasn’t bad, but it was a match that was simply hard to care about, which is exactly what a Tokyo Dome main is not supposed to be. **
3/91
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Negro Casas 6:52. The Liger vs. Casas series was immensely disappointing because the sum of the parts never came close to adding up to the whole. Even though they could do each other’s style, they didn’t have the timing, chemistry, and proficiency to do it at the level of overall lesser wrestlers doing their most comfortable style. Today’s match leaned more toward Casas doing the Japanese junior style, wrestling stiffer and on a move for move or brief sequence basis. He alternated athletic holds with rudo cheapshots. I loved the general malevolence of the match, particularly the sequence where Casas dove off the top to the floor with a chair then tried a tope, but Liger avenged by stopping it with the chair. They did Lucha sequences here and there, but as they didn’t have a great feel for one another or because of the communication barrier, it was rather easy to tell what they were setting up. Though I’m cutting the match up to some extent because a few sequences and counters were surprisingly deliberate, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was one of the more offensively interesting Liger matches of the era. Liger actually didn’t have that much offense, but Casas pulled out a bunch of moves you don’t see in Japan. I always had a particular affinity for Casas’ boomerang headscissors. Though it does no particular damage, it's about as graceful a flying move as you'll see. The match could have been notable if they did even a normal length match, but for some reason they had Casas use the ropes for a cheap flash pin, which was kind of bizarre in that Casas had dominated the match up to that point, which would lead you to believe he’d either lose or at least win after Liger had a big run. ***
Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito 12:12. Koshinaka kept everyone moving, resulting in the most motivated Blond Outlaws performance so far in 1991. The intensity was there, so even though there was very little offense of interest before the finishing sequence, there was something to all the punching and stomping that made you feel as though they meant it. It wasn’t complex or pretty, but it was effective enough. **1/2
3/91
Riki Choshu & Masahiro Chono & Keiji Muto vs. Scott Norton & Wild Samoan & Great Kokina. Overachieving match. Chono & Muto came to work, and there was a lot of heat on Norton (especially vs. Muto) and Kokina. They did the smart match, with Muto & Chono using their speed to try to counteract Norton & Kokina’s power, but the sheer mass of the gaijins stifled them even on some of the most basic maneuvers such as the snapmare. Muto dove out of the way of Norton’s football tackle, and busted him open on the floor. Norton had something to prove here, and was at his most entertaining. Choshu was a non-factor, but Norton pinning him in his powerslam was huge for the world’s slowest Flash. Norton then attacked Muto on the floor twice to further promote their singles match. Samoan is the best worker on his team, but also played only a minor role. The match was short, but that’s a good thing because, knowing that, Norton & Kokina were able to “sprint”. **1/2
Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Masa Saito & Kuniaki Kobayashi 13:21. Hase is wrestling at a level or more above the opposition in each and every match this year. Kobayashi was good here, slick and precise, but for the most part it was Hase who singlehandedly made the match good. Sasaki is still trying to find himself. He’s competent, but doesn’t know what sort of wrestler he wants to be, and Hase tends to take 60-75% of the match and let him have a few brief bursts of offense, unless Sasaki is in a long time because he’s selling consistently (not the case here). The surprise of this contest for me was how much Saito was selling, very willingly playing the underdog for Hase. ***
Negro Casas vs. Pegasus Kid 11:52. A much different match than Casas had with Jushin Thunder Liger on the previous SKY-A classics, this time playing more a technico role. Not that there was much cheating from either, but Pegasus did start laying into Casas and took it to the floor after Casas suggested a congratulatory handshake. Pegasus seemed much more comfortable doing Lucha than Liger did, so the match was more proficient in that aspect, yet there was little in the way of running sequences, so the level of difficulty was rather disappointing. It was one of those matches where they delved in a lot of different areas and kept changing things up, but none of it seemed to add up and they never gained any momentum. It was all entertaining and competent, but it felt rather incomplete. It seemed as though they were searching throughout, so I was rather shocked that they went home so soon without ever really sticking to anything or particularly picking the action up. ***1/4
Osamu Kido vs. Masahiro Chono 9:51. Kido is the sort of opponent who brings out the worst in Chono, happy to do as dated a match with as few highspots as possible. I don’t mind that it was 70’s style technical wrestling with no moves, but that it felt totally uninspired. They didn’t make me believe in anything they did; it had no intensity and seemed meaningless. The wrestling was as competent as could be, but none of it seemed to be doing particular damage or leading anywhere. It didn’t seem to be done with any particular aim, or have any special importance, and then it fittingly just ended with them rolling back and forth after a sunset flip. *1/4
4/28/91 Omiya Skate Center: Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito 18:45. I was disappointed enough by their 3/6/91 tag title match, but at least they made some effort there. Tonight they just phoned it in. It was the worst Hase & Sasaki match thusfar in 1991. They sold almost the entire match for opponents who were only concerned with stalling. Machine & Saito used one submission after the other, with no real attempt to make us believe in any of them. It was totally, obviously, just a ploy to sit in a Boston crab or stand in a sleeper for a minute at a time. Hase was still the best in the match, but this time he wasn’t doing much either, and didn’t find the willpower to try to save it. Everyone finally showed up for the final two minutes, but it was too little too late. I figured Blond Outlaws were going over to avenge their loss in the title match, but after a performance that cemented them in last place in my unofficial ’91 NJ tag rankings, I was more than normally excited to see Sasaki pull out his avalanche style powerslam for the win. *1/2
4/28/91 Saitama Omiya Skate Center
Top of the Super Junior II League Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Owen Hart 14:58. Graceful and precise wrestling, truly a thing of beauty. The junior division has been very disappointing in ’91, largely because there are no natives beyond Liger that are doing anything of note. This is the match that could have, should have been a classic. Owen was in top form and they were certainly wrestling at that level, both individually and collectively, from the get go. However, the second problem with the junior division in ’91 is the brevity of the matches. I can see that there might be some benefit in not having Casas’ matches go too long because his style is somewhat alien to NJPW rings, and this was actually quite a bit longer than any of the other junior matches that have been shown, but for a match where they were committed to doing some legitimate body work in the middle, they would have benefited from not having to pack so much into 15 minutes. The opening was great, then it slowed in the middle but Owen’s attack of Liger’s left elbow was very well done. It would have been a strong point if it wasn’t totally dropped due to time constraints or laziness, and Liger’s body attack that never really developed was another point where you felt as though the match would have really benefited from even 3 more minutes. As they transitioned to the finishing segment, there were a few spots where the choreography was a little off, but generally the match was better than their even shorter match from 1/30/90 because they seemed so much more comfortable working with each other. They were on the same page, and able to do whatever they could think of. The offense in the final minutes was highly impressive, but they didn’t do a great job of making it as dramatic as it could have been, of making you buy into the near finishes, which there also didn’t seem to be enough of. One could argue that 15 minutes should have been ample, but either way, this was not a blow away match by any means. Maybe I wanted them to do a final rather than a league match because that's what this should have been (unless Pegasus came through), but regardless, this was their only opportunity and as good as it was, they also very clearly left a lot in the tank. Still, it was the best NJ junior match thusfar in 1991 by a wide margin. ****
Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu & Keiji Muto vs. Scott Norton & Great Kokina & Wild Samoan 11:58. Muto being one of the only guys that ever made Norton look good is the obvious point, but Norton actually brought out the best in Muto as well. Norton’s size and strength forced Muto to rely on his quickness and athleticism, which was the most entertaining aspect of Muto when he actually had knees, and the fact that the fans were reacting to Flash calling Muto out and trying to bully him kept Muto focused and on the go. Muto was on top of his game here, and Norton, though somewhat clumsy and inflexible, did a great job of playing the obnoxious badass heel, taunting and challenging Muto at every turn. He even busted Muto open by dropping him on the exposed turnbuckle, causing Muto to bleed heavily enough to do a decorative spew. There was too much Kokina, and the rest of the match wasn’t particularly distinguished, but the others knew what the match was about, and were willing to make a minor contribution then get out of Norton & Muto's way rather than distracting from the focus or trying to steal their thunder. Norton got so far under Muto’s skin that Muto armbarred him after the match until his partners took pity on Norton and pulled him off. ***
5/11/91 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Karate vs. Boxing Ishu Kakutogisen 3 min 10 Rd: Masashi Aoyagi vs. Tony Halme R3 1:57. I expected an out and out travesty, but the match actually could have been good if Halme would only have punched believably. Aoyagi was entertaining, throwing a lot of nice kicks from the outside and trying to use his knees when Halme pinned him in the corner. The match was pretty good with Aoyagi on offense, but Halme was so atrocious one wonders how he was ever asked back. It was easily a worst match of the year candidate with Halme on offense. His showboating and hamming it up would have made it hard to take serious, if his whiffing on most of his punches and making minimal contact on the rest didn’t already render the notion impossible. The match would have been better if there were a third as many knockdowns, but of course the real problem was Aoyagi kept diving to the canvas from phantom punches. DUD
Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami 19:52. Looking back, it’s hard to figure why Hase didn’t amount to more. Despite being a former junior he was as tall as the other three wrestlers in this match, who happen to have 14 IWGP Heavyweight Championship runs between them. He was stealing the show in every tag match, totally over, and had begun to seem to be the man in the tag division due to a successful push. Choshu & Fujinami were not only taking him seriously and totally motivated to wrestle him, they were putting extra effort into knocking him off his perch. Hase was diverse and cocky enough to take both on in their own element. Tonight's match was more about him matching technique with Fujinami, but I loved the intense bruising exchange he had with Choshu. Choshu was the disdainful grumpy old man here, on a mission to keep the new generation firmly behind the old one (in story, in booking he was taking a step toward the opposite). He was out to put a beating on the tag champs, and it was one of his stiffest and most intense performances of the year. Sasaki never did too much in any of these matches with Hase; he was always alright, but it was the Hase show with Sasaki playing a totally supporting role. Hase logging so much ring time finally didn’t work out here, and I disliked him doing the job which felt counter productive, but overall the match still seemed to put the duo on a higher plateau. I preferred this match to most of the other Hase & Sasaki tags because they actually got strong support from the opposition, mainly Choshu stepping up the intensity and making the contest feel important. ***1/2
4/30/91 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Keiji Muto vs. Scott Norton 9:07. Muto was a man possessed here, actually wrestling to his capability and then some. This motivated Muto, unfortunately one we rarely see in future years, is indeed one of the great heavyweight wrestlers, and he carried Norton to a highly entertaining back and forth sprint that was one of the highlights of Scott's career. Norton isn’t exactly graceful and doesn’t always execute well, but he's intuitive about getting crowd reaction and willing to allow his size to work against him as much as for him. These two wanted each other badly, and Muto was catapulting himself all over the place from start to finish in an effort to counteract Norton’s mass, which made for an entertaining contest. He also worked Norton’s wrist, which was presumably injured from his post match armbar on 4/28/91. I wouldn't have been opposed to Norton incapacitating Muto, but as it was their first big singles match and Norton was the new monster, the finish of having Norton go over but not in a particularly decisive manner also made sense. I think keeping it short also helped because both were able to go full force the entire contest, and as Norton doesn’t have much more than he showed here he’d likely become counter productive if it went much longer. ***1/2
Top of the Super Junior II Final, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Decision Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Norio Honaga 21:54. We were in the midst of a great period for heavyweights coming up the ranks with Hase, Muto, Hashimoto, Chono, Koshinaka, and Sasaki all on the rise, but there weren’t any particularly promising juniors. A repackaged Nogami failed to set the Tokyo Dome on fire on 3/21/91, so we were ultimately stuck with Honaga. Honaga had yet to show anyone why he belonged in big matches, but alas he was here. This was his coming out party, upsetting the two top juniors in one night (he defeated Pegasus in the semifinal) although he wasn’t sure who he was or what to do. Honaga tried for better offense early to make it memorable, throwing in a plancha, a powerbomb on a table, ripping Liger’s mask and so on, but he generally seemed to lack a sense of what defined him as a wrestler and was just getting by throwing in a little of this and a little of that. Or perhaps he knew he needed to step it up to compete at the highest level, but he didn't know how to? There was nothing he was better than Liger at, but he badly needed big match credibility so Liger sold and sold and sold. This is the one junior match so far in 1991 that had the time, but Honaga couldn’t fill it. 15 minutes into the match, Honaga was still stomping Liger. Honaga can be crafty, he can get heel heat, he can sometimes tell a story in his simple but effective manner, but sustained offense from Norio is never a good idea. Liger finally made his hot comeback, throwing his body around. This set up a great near fall that’s exactly the sort of thing Honaga does well, avoiding a back body drop by sliding and quickly hooking Liger’s arms with his legs to almost flash pin him. There was way too little of effective Honaga though, as he wasn’t really setting anything up, instead relying on quantity over quality, but quantity from him isn’t even good heavyweight offense. A Honaga match is much better when he sells and comes up with the well timed, probably shady counter then follows up with some cheap shots to sustain the heat, but in his first tour final singles main event, he simply lacked the credibility for that. They followed with one near fall after another until the finish, and the crowd was apparently responding to the effort over the quality, as they were really into it. Both men tried really hard, but ultimately Honaga is still a pedestrian wrestler who is in the junior division by virtue of being decidedly too small to be a heavyweight. It was a nice match because they worked so hard, but it was a poor showcase for a junior division that needed a jumpstart. ***1/4
5/31/91 Osaka Jo Hall
Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Masanobu Kurisu & Kim Duk 12:35. I can understand why Saito & Goto are here, as even though they aren’t good, at least they are young enough to potentially improve (too bad they only got worse). However, bringing Kurisu & Duk back when they are years past their prime and aren’t going to make any money for NJ makes no sense. I mean, Duk is slow as molasses and can hardly bend at the waist, and yet with these guys, he isn’t noticeably worse than the rest. I’d tell you about the wrestling, if they actually did any. Duk actually tried to slip a move or two in, but it was pretty much punches, stomps, and headbutts throughout. DUD
Riki Choshu & Keiji Muto vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & TNT 10:37. Muto continues to be one of the most consistent and motivated wrestlers in the league, an easy second best in the tag scene behind Hase. He put on a show again, completely overshadowing Choshu, who I hardly remember even being involved. Bigelow did a nice job as well, displaying the quickness, offense, and bumps of a man half his size. TNT was one-dimensional as ever, doing nothing beyond throwing kicks. I enjoyed Muto poking fun at TNT by making a bunch of corny gestures after kicking him. **1/2
5/31/91 Osaka Jo Hall, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Norio Honaga vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
6/20/91 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Jushin Liger & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Kengo Kimura & Kuniaki Kobayashi
Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito vs. Kim Duk & Masanobu Kurisu
Pegasus Kid & Super Strong Machine vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki
Masa Chono & Riki Choshu vs. Bad News Allen & Brad Rheingans
6/20/91 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Keiji Muto & Shinya Hashimoto & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ax Demolition & Canadian Giant & Scott Norton
6/26/91 Tokuyama City Gym
Masa Saito & Kengo Kimura vs. Ax Demolition & Canadian Giant
Pegusus Kid & Tatsutoshi Goto & Norio Honaga vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Shiro Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi
Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine
Masahiro Chono & Riki Choshu vs. Kim Duk & Masanobu Kurisu
6/26/91 Tokyuma City Gym: Keiji Muto & Tatsumi Fujinami & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Bad News Allen & Scott Norton & Brad Rheingans
7/1/91 Kagoshima Kenritsu Taiikukan
Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Norio Honaga
Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine vs. Kim Duk & Masanobu Kurisu
Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Ax Demolition & Canadian Giant
Shinya Hashimoto & Riki Choshu vs. Bad News Allen & Scott Norton
7/1/91 Kagoshima Kenritsu Taiikukan: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Brad Rheingans
7/4/91 Fukuoka Kokusai Center
Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine vs. Kim Duk & Masanobu Kurisu
Mitsuhiro Matsunaga vs. Masashi Aoyagi
Mascara Contra Mascara: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Pegasus Kid
Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu vs. Demolition Ax & Canadian Giant
7/4/91 Fukuoka Kokusai Center: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Scott Norton
Keiji Muto & Masa Chono vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase
7/91 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center:
Hiroyoshi Yamamoto vs. Koji Kanemoto
Masao Aoyagi vs. Michiyoshi Ohara
7/91 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Kengo Kimura & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Tatsutoshi Goto & Norio Honaga
Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi
Great Kokina & Samoan Savage vs. Black Cat & Masa Saito
Jushin Thunder Liger & Masa Chono vs. Mad Bull Busters Rex & Spike
Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Tiget Jeet Singh
7/91 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Great Muta & TNT vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase
Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Kim Duk & Masanobu Kurisu
Big Van Vader vs. Shinya Hashimoto
7/91 Obihiro City Comprehensive Gymnasium:
Shiro Koshinaka vs. Mad Bull Rex
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. TNT
7/91 Nagano Ueda Citizen Gymnasium:
Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase vs. Mad Bull Busters Rex & Spike. Joined in progress
Tiger Jeet Singh & Kim Duk vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto
Big Van Vader & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & TNT & Wild Samoan & The Great Kokina vs. Keiji Muto & Masa Chono & Shinya Hashimoto & Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami
7/91 Iwate Prefectural Management Gymnasium: Big Van Vader & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Keiji Muto & Masa Chono
7/91 Iwate Ken'ei Taiikukan
Hiroyoshi Yamamoto vs. Michiyoshi Ohara
Koji Kanemoto & Black Cat vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Takeshi Misawa. Joined in progress
Kengo Kimura vs. Osamu Kido
Jushin Thunder Liger & Kantaro Hoshino & Masayoshi Aoyagi vs. Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine & Norio Honaga
Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki & Riki Choshu vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Kim Duk & Masanobu Kurisu
8/7/91 Nagaya Aichi-ken Taiikukan
Norio Honaga & Tatsutoshi Gotoh vs. Kim Duk & Masanobu Kurisu
Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine
Mitsuhiro Matsunaga vs. Masashi Aoyagi
8/7/91 Nagoya Aichi-ken Taiikukan
Jushin Thunder Liger & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Akira Nogami & Kuniaki Kobayashi
Brian Pillman & El Gigante vs. Osamu Kido & Kengo Kimura
8/11/91 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Akira Nogami vs. Norio Honaga
Big Van Vader & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Scott Norton vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki & Tatsumi Fujinami
8/25/91 Yomiuri Land Co & Ltd EAST & Outdoors: Osamu Nishimura vs. Black Cat
8/11/91 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan, '91 G-1 Climax Final: Keiji Muto vs. Masahiro Chono
8/25/91 Yomiuri Land Co & Ltd EAST:
Kuniaki Kobayashi vsTatsuyoshi Goto
Kengo Kimura vs. Masao Aoyagi
8/25/91 Yomiuri Land Co & Ltd EAST
Jushin Thunder Liger & Akira Nogami vs. Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Osamu Kido
Elimination Match 4 vs. 5: Shinya Hashimoto & Koji Kannemoto & Osamu Nishimura & Hiroyoshi Yamamoto & Michiyoshi Ohara vs. Masa Chono & Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase & Shiro Koshinaka
9/12/91 Tokushima-shi Taiikukan: Takeshi Misawa vs. Michiyoshi Ohara
8/25/91 Yomiuri Land Co & Ltd EAST: The Great Muta vs. Super Strong Machine
9/12/91 Tokushima-shi Taiikukan
Koji Kanemoto vs. Frank Anderson
Kuniaki Kobayashi & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Osamu Kido & Kengo Kimura
Black Cat vs. Brad Rhenigans
Pegasus Kid & Brad Armstrong vs. Super Strong Machine & Masa Saito
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Tournament: Akira Nogami vs. Norio Honaga
9/12/91 Tokushima-shi Taiikukan
Hiroshi Hase & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Kim Duk & Masanobu Kurisu
Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Great Kokina & Scott Norton & Wild Samoan
9/23/91 Yokohama Arena
Hiroyoshi Yamamoto vs. Michiyoshi Ohara. JIP
Koji Kanemoto & Masashi Aoyagi vs. Norio Honaga & Tatsutoshi Goto. JIP
Kim Duk vs. Super Strong Machine. JIP
Pegasus Kid & Brad Armstrong & Wild Samoan & Great Kokina vs. Osamu Kido & Black Cat & Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura
Frank Anderson & Masa Saito vs. Ron Simmons & Hiro Saito
9/23/91 Yokohama Arena
Big Van Vader vs. Scott Norton
Sting vs. AKIRA
1/4/92 Tokyo Dome
Black Cat vs. Hiroyoshi Yamamoto. JIP
Osamu Kido & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Kengo Kimura & Kantaro Kantaro Hoshino. JIP
Jushin Thunder Liger & Masashi Aoyagi & AKIRA vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga. JIP
Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Michiyoshi Ohara
1/4/92 Tokyo Dome
Shin Nihon vs. WCW Tag Match: Masa Saito & Kim Duk vs. Dusty Rhodes & Dusty Rhodes, Jr. Bad and boring match. Copperdust gave his typical bland performance, while Duk used his riveting nerve holds. Dusty aged like rotten eggs, stunk more every day. His charisma came off more as comedy, but laughing at this match with it's flubs, mistiming, and consistently poor wrestling was the only way it could be tollerated. DUD
Super Power Special Match: Tony Halme vs. Scott Norton 8:41. Plodding deliberate match. These guys desperately need someone to carry them. They can do there moves okay, but that's about it. The fans were totally pro Norton even to the point of booing Halme when he posed and bragged. The fans popped huge when Norton bulled Halme off his feet. Halme was cut on the forehead. It looked like a razor job that didn't achieve the desired effect, but if that's the case it's hard to imagine what the purpose of having blood in this match was. *
Shin Nihon vs. WCW Special Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Bill Kazmaier 8:37. Kazmaier was one of those robotic musclemen that were so plentiful in the 80's and early 90's. I guess he deserves more credit outside the ring than most for his multiple championships in both powerlifting and strongman, but as a wrestler his excessive strength, typically, mostly led to the wrong kind of stiffness. The fans were into Hashimoto's offense, but Kazmaier was never much good at taking, much less putting it over. *1/4
Super Heavy Special Match: Big Van Vader vs. El Gigante 4:49. Vader, who was only up to Gigante's chest, tried, but you can't do much with Gigante. Thankfully it was short. The screw job finish was easier to stomach because the only true highlight of the match, Vader letting the steam out of his headpiece onto Gigante, came right after it. *
Special Match: Antonio Inoki vs. Hiroshi Hase 10:09. Hase did an excellent job carrying Inoki, but it was short and Inoki didn't put him over enough for the match to be all that great. Technically it was good with some nice transitions. There were a few lame strikes, but the suplexes were good. Obviously it had major heat. There was a totally ridiculous spot where Inoki put Hase out with his illegal masho sleeper in less than 2 seconds. **1/2
1/4/92 Tokyo Dome
Dream Tag Match: Sting & Great Muta vs. Scott Steiner & Rick Steiner 11:03. Lots of flashy moves without much selling. Steiners threw the opposition all over the place with crazy high impact suplexes, while Muto made up for his lack of size with his explosive quickness. This was pretty much a rehash of the 3/21/91 Dome match, and as you knew what you were going to get, you kind of had to be happy with the match because they executed well and excited the audience. Actually, although Hase & Sasaki were arguably the better team due to Hase being the best of the 6 at this point, I liked this match a little better because having the bigger stars opposing the Steiners made for more of a competitive match rather than just being an overrated exhibition of Steiners impressive suplexes. Speaking of suplexes, I liked Rick's overhead belly to belly off the 2nd the best of the bunch. You don't usually see a guy go for a ride on a suplex off the middle rope because holding on protects them some, but Rick just tossed Muto like a sack of potatoes. I also liked the spot where Rick was leaning against the ropes, so Sting press slammed Muta into Rick and both went over the top to the floor. ***1/2
WCW (NWA) World Heavyweight Title Match: Lex Luger vs. Masahiro Chono 15:09. Luger came to fight, but his fire didn't totally make up for all his uninteresting and lame offense such as the annoying test of strength. All things considered these two worked well together with Chono doing an impressive job of making Luger look "good." The match built pretty well. Fans were into the match, which had good drama. Simple schoolboys and small packages were dramatic because the stakes were high given WCW's big titles still meant something at this point. Even with Chono's excellent performance, it was still better as a spectacle than a wrestling match. **1/2
IWGP Heavyweight & Greatest 18 Club Nintei Belt Double Title Match: Riki Choshu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami 12:11. These two have much more interesting matches when they are more toward Choshu's fiery brawling style. Choshu doing a technical match, especially at this point, is just boredom with him sitting in the scorpion, and certainly doesn't get the crowd involved the way he's capable of. The moves were well executed, but they were very basic badly dated moves. Nostalgia at the Tokyo Dome is one thing, but not when it's the main event. *3/4
2/92: Chris Benoit & Flying Scorpio (2 Cold Scorpio) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Akira Nogami
12/26/90 Hamamatsu Arena
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Negro Casas. Joined in progress
Keiji Muto vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
Lou Thesz vs. Masahiro Chono
Masa Saito vs. Nick Bockwinkel
IWGP Tag Title Match: Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito
12/26/90 Hamamatsu Arena
Ishu Kakutogisen 3Min 10Rd: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Tony Halme
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Riki Choshu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami
11/91 Matsumoto-shi Sogo Taiikukan
Kantaro Hoshino vs. Masayoshi Aoyagi
Masa Saito & Osamu Kido & Kengo Kimura vs. Kim Duk & Masanobu Kurisu & Hot Shot
11/91 Matsumoto-shi Sogo Taiikukan
Jushin Liger & Akira Nogami vs. Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga
Masahiro Chono & Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Bad News Brown & Super Strong Machine & Mad Bull Rex
Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Scott Norton
12/5/91 Chiba Koen Taiikukan: Shinya Hashimoto & Kantaro Hoshino & Masa Saito vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga
12/5/91Chiba Koen Taiikukan
Jushin Thunder Liger & Akira Nogami vs. Negro Casas & El Katara
Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs. vs Scot Norton & Brad Rheingans
Masahiro Chono & Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Kim Duk & Tim Horner
12/16/91 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
Osamu Kido & Kengo Kimura vs. Masa Saito & Tim Horner
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Negro Casas
12/16/91 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Tony Halme
Masahiro Chono & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Akira Nogami & Riki Choshu
IWGP Tag Title Match: Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Scot Norton
undercard digest
2/4/92
Tony St.Clair & Brad Armstrong vs. Kengo Kimura & Masa Saito
Tony Halme vs. Kim Duk
Hiroshi Hase & Masahiro Chono vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka
Keiji Muto & Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Scott Norton & Rambo
2/8/92 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Shinya Hashimoto & Akira Nogami vs. Pegasus Kid & Brad Armstrong
2/8/92 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Scott Norton vs. Tony Halme
Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka
Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Matthew Rambo vs. Riki Choshu & Akira Nogami
IWGP Junior & WCW Light Heavyweight Title Unification Match: Jushin Thunder Liger (WCW champ) vs. Norio Honaga (IWGP champ)
2/8/92 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Akitoshi Saito vs. Michiyoshi Ohara
Koji Kanemoto vs. Osamu Nishimura. Digest
Black Cat & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Osamu Kido & Hiroyoshi Yamamoto. Digest
Masa Saito & Kengo Kimura vs. Tony St. Clair & Kim Duk. Digest
2/10/92 Nagoya Rainbow Hall
Bam Bam Bigelow & Tony Halme vs. Rambo & Kim Duk
IWGP Junior & WCW Light Heavyweight Double Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Pegasus Kid
Ishu Kakutogisen: Kuniaki Kobayashi & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Akitoshi Saito & Shigeru Tajiri
2/10/92 Nagoya Rainbow Hall
Masahiro Chono & Shinya Hashimoto & Akira Nogami vs. Riki Choshu & Kengo Kimura & Masa Saito
IWGP Tag Title Match: Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs. Brad Armstrong & Scott Norton
2/92 Osaka Furitsu Rinkai Sports Center
Osamu Kido & Masayoshi Aoyagi vs. Brad Armstrong & Kim Duk
Scott Norton vs. Matthew Rambo
2/10/92 Nagoya Rainbow Hall
Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Tony Halme vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Saito
Jushin Thunder Liger & Akira Nogami vs. Pegasus Kid & Flying Scorpio (2 Cold Scorpio)
Shiro Koshinaka vs. Akitoshi Saito
Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs. Riki Choshu & Masahiro Chono
3/1/92 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena
Black Cat & Hiroyoshi Yamamoto vs. Kantaro Hoshino & Kotetsu Yamamoto
Seiji Sakaguchi & Strong Kobayashi vs. Tiger Jeet Singh & Umanosuke Ueda
Tiger Mask Kanemoto vs. El Samurai
Satoshi Kojima vs. Osamu Nishimura
Brian Blair vs. Michiyoshi Ohara
3/1/92 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena
Shiro Koshinaka vs. Akira Nogami
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Masahiro Chono
Antonio Inoki & Osamu Kido vs. Riki Choshu & Kengo Kimura
3/9/92 Kyoto Furitsu Taiikukan
IWGP Tag Title Match: Big Van Vader & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono
Kuniaki Kobayashi & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Akitoshi Saito & Masa Aoyagi
3/11/92 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Jushin Thunder Liger & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Madbull Rex & Madbull Spike (Madbull Busters aka Pitbulls)
Hiroshi Hase & Kengo Kimura vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Brian Blair
3/11/92 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Masa Saito vs. Akira Nogami
El Samurai vs. Norio Honaga
Shinya Hashimoto & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsushi Goto
Big Van Vader & Kokina & Samu vs. Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono & Riki Choshu
Koji Kanemoto vs. Osamu Nishimura
Satoshi Kojima vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan
4/16/92 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Top of the Super Junior III League Match: Eddy Guerrero vs. Negro Casas
Top of the Super Junior III League Match: Koji Kanemoto vs. Norio Honaga
Top of the Super Junior III League Match: Pegasus Kid vs. Flying Scorpio
Top of the Super Junior III League Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. El Samurai
Hiroshi Hase vs. Larry Cameron
Akira Nogami & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Hiro Saito & Tatsushi Goto
Masahiro Chono vs. Super Strong Machine
4/16/92 Tokyo: Keiji Muto & Shinya Hashimoto & Riki Choshu vs. Scott Norton & Bad News Allen & Tony Halme
4/21/92 Kanazawa Ishikawa-ken Sangyo Tenjikan
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Norio Honaga
Hiroshi Hase & Akira Nogami vs. Scott Norton & Larry Cameron
Masahiro Chono vs. Tatsushi Goto
Riki Choshu & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine
4/21/92 Kanazawa: Keiji Muto & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Bad News Allen & Tony Halme
4/26/92 Oita-ken Hita-shi Sogo Taiikukan: Masahiro Chono & Akira Nogami vs. Bad News Allen & Masanobu Kurisu
4/26/92 Oita: Scott Norton & Tony Halme vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Kengo Kimura
4/26/92 Oita: Hiroshi Hase & Riki Choshu & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto
4/26/92 Oita-ken Hita-shi Sogo Taiikukan
Flying Scorpio & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi
Keiji Muto vs. Larry Cammeron
4/30/92 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Eddy Guerrero & Negro Casas vs. Pegasus Kid & David Fit Finlay
Hiroshi Hase & Akira Nogami & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine & Norio Honaga
Shinya Hashimoto & Riki Choshu vs. Scott Norton & Tony Halme
4/26/92 Oita-ken Hita-shi Sogo Taiikukan
Top of the Super Junior III League Match: Negro Casas vs. Koji Kanemoto
Top of the Super Junior III League Match: Pegasus Kid vs. Norio Honaga
Top of the Super Junior III League Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Dave Fit Finlay
4/30/92 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Top of the Super Junior Advance to the Final Decision Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Norio Honaga
Top of the Super Junior III Final: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. El Samurai *****
4/30/92 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Akitoshi Saito
Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Bam Bam Bigalow & Big Van Vader
5/1/92 Chiba Port Arena
Jushin Thunder Liger & Pegasus Kid vs. Negro Casas & El Samurai
Akira Nogami & Masahiro Chono & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Hiro Saito & Tatsuyoshi Goto & Super Strong Machine
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Tony Halme
5/1/92 Chiba Port Arena
Shiro Koshinaka vs. Akitoshi Saito
IWGP Tag Title Match: Big Van Vader & Bam Bam Bigalow vs. Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Riki Choshu vs. Scott Norton
Eddy Guerrero vs. Koji Kanemoto
Osamu Kido & Kengo Kimura vs. Bad News Allen & Osamu Kido
5/17/92 Osaka Jo Hall
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. El Samurai 26:06
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Oz 9:23
Antonio Inoki & Hiroshi Hase vs. Rambo & Brad Rheinghans 13:54
Pegasus Kid vs. Tiger Mask 12:56
5/17/92 Osaka Jo Hall
Big Van Vader vs. Tony Halme
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Riki Choshu vs. Keiji Muto
6/2/92 Hiroshima Sun Plaza
Shiro Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Norio Honaga & Super Strong Machine
Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Pegasus Kid & El Samurai
Satoshi Kojima vs. Hiroyoshi Yamamoto
6/2/92 Hiroshima Sun Plaza
Hiroshi Hase vs. Rambo
Brad Armstrong & Tony Halme vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Akira Nogami
Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Akira Nogami & Riki Choshu
6/18/92 Utsonomiya
Pimpinella Escarlata & May Flowers vs. El Samurai & Black Cat
Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono vs. Scott Norton & Killer Bee (Brian Blair)
Great Kokina & Samu vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito
Bam Bam Bigalow vs. Masa Saito
Keiji Muto & Kengo Kimura vs. Riki Choshu & Takayuki Iizuka
6/26/92 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyshi Yammamoto vs. Koji Kanemoto & Osamu Nishimura
Pegasus Kid vs. Super Strong Machine
Great Kokina & Samu vs. Killer Bee & Scott Norton
Keiji Muto & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Takiyuki Iizuka & Black Cat
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. El Samurai
6/26/92 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Hiroshi Hase vs. Kensuke Sasaki
IWGP Tag Title Match: Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Big Van Vader vs. Rick & Scott Steiner
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Riki Choshu vs. Masahiro Chono
7/8/92 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan
Koji Kanemoto & Black Cat vs. Hiroyoshi Yamamoto & Satoshi Kojima
Big Van Vader & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Scott Norton & Masa Saito
El Samurai vs. Masahiro Chono
Keiji Muto vs. Takayuki Iizuka
7/8/92 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan
Hiroshi Hase vs. Kensuke Sasaki
Ishu Kakutogisen: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Richard Byrne
7/16/92 Gifu Sangyo Kaikan
Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine & Norio Honaga vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai & Kantaro Hoshino
Takayuki Iizuka & Osamu Kido vs. The Untouchables (Buster & Ice)
7/16/92 Gifu Sangyo Kaikan
Masa Saito vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow
Shinya Hashimoto & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Scott Norton & Tony Halme
Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs. Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono & Hiroshi Hase
7/31/92 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Masahiro Chono
7/31/92 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Keiji Muto vs. TNT
Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Masa Saito
Tatsumi Fujinami & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Hiroshi Hase
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Riki Choshu vs. Super Strong Machine
8/6/92 Shizuoka Sangyo Kaikan
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Shiro Koshinaka
Jim Neidhart & Pegasus Kid vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Tatsumi Fujinami
Riki Choshu & Kensuke Sasaki vs. The Barbarian & Rick Rude
8/11/92 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Pegasus Kid
Super Strong Machine vs. Arn Anderson
8/6/92 Shizuoka Sangyo Kaikan, G1 Climax, NWA World Heavyweight Title Decision 1st Round
Steve Austin vs. Arn Anderson
Scott Norton vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow
Barry Windham vs. Keiji Muto
Masahiro Chono vs. Tony Halme
8/11/92 & 8/12/92 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
8/12/92 Tokyo: Scott Steiner & Rick Steiner vs. Keiji Muto & Kensuke Sasaki
8/11/92 G1 Climax, NWA World Heavyweight Title Decision Semifinal: Kensuke Sasaki vs. Rick Rude
8/11/92 G1 Climax, NWA World Heavyweight Title Decision Semifinal: Masahiro Chono vs. Keiji Muto
8/12/92 G1 Climax, NWA World Heavyweight Title Decision Final: Masahiro Chono vs. Rick Rude
8/12/92 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Barry Windham & Barbarian & Jim Neidhart vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Tony Halme & Scott Norton
Riki Choshu & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Osamu Kido & Tatsumi Fujinami
8/15/92 Kobe World Kinen Hall
Jushin Thunder Liger & Koji Kanemoto & Kantaro Hoshino vs. Hiro Saito & Tatsutshi Goto & Norio Honaga
Super Strong Machine vs. Masanobu Kurisu
Kensuke Sasaki vs. Tony Halme
8/15/92 Kobe World Kinen Hall
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: El Samurai vs. Pegasus Kid
Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Takayuki Iizuka
Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu & Osamu Kido vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura & Akitoshi Saito
IWGP Tag Title Match: Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner vs. Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Scott Norton
9/23/92 Yokohama Arena
IWGP Tag Title Match: Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki
NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Masahiro Chono vs. Steve Austin
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Great Muta vs. Shinya Hashimoto
9/23/92 Yokohama Arena
Black Cat vs. Hiro Saito
Wild Samoan & Great Kokina vs. Super Strong Machine & Norio Honaga
Jushin Thunder Liger & Hiroyoshi Yamamoto vs. Koji Kanemoto & El Samurai
IWGP Heavyweight Title Next Challenger Decision Match:Scott Norton vs. Tony Halme
Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka & Masashi Aoyagi & Akitoshi Saito vs. Osamu Kido & Riki Choshu & Takiyuki Iizuka & Tatsumi Fujinami
10/21/92 Hamamatsu Arena
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: El Samurai vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
Super Grade Tag League: Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Tatsumi Fujinami
Super Grade Tag League: Keiji Muto & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow & Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki
Super Grade Tag League Final: Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasake vs. Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto
11/23/92 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Yuji Nagata vs. Shinjiro Otani
Koji Kanemoto & Osamu Nishimura vs. Hiroyoshi Yamamoto & Satoshi Kojima
Dean Malenko & Pegasus Kid vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Takashi Iizuka
Keiji Muto & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Akira Nogami
11/23/92 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Scott Norton & TNT vs. Ron Powers & Tony Halme
NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Masahiro Chono vs. Scott Steiner
Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa & Koki Kitahara vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura & Masashi Aoyagi
11/23/92 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Super Strong Machine vs. Akitoshi Saito
Road Warrior Hawk & Power Warrior vs. Hiroshi Hase & Riki Choshu
12/11/92 Nagoya Rainbow Hall
Satoshi Kojima vs. Osamu Nishimura
Super Strong Machine & Tony Halme vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Osamu Kido
Keiji Muto & Akira Nogami vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Great Kabuki
12/11/92 Nagoya Rainbow Hall
Jushin Thunder Liger & Koji Kanemoto vs. Ultimo Dragon & Masao Orihara
Hiroshi Hase vs. Masahiro Chono
12/14/92 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Koji Kanemoto
12/14/92 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan
Akira Nogami & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Takashi Ishikawa & Koki Kitahara
Hiroshi Hase vs. The Great Muta
Tony Halme & Scott Norton vs. The Hell Raisers (Road Warrior Hawk & Power Warrior Kensuke Sasaki)
Shiro Koshinaka vs. Genichiro Tenryu
2/10/93 Gifu Sangyo Kaikan
Osamu Nishimura vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa
Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroyoshi Yamamoto
Shinjiro Otani vs. Satoshi Kojima
Black Cat vs. Osamu Kido
Jushin Thunder Liger & Hiroshi Hase & Akira Nogami & & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto & Norio Honaga
2/10/93 Gifu Sangyo Kaikan
Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono vs. Tony Halme & Perry Saturn
Hell Raisers vs. Brad Armstrong & Rambo
Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu & Takashi Iizuka vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi & Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka
2/13/93 Okayama-ken Taiikukan
Shinjiro Otani vs. Tokimitsu Ishizawa
Hiroyoshi Yamamoto vs. Satoshi Kojima
2/13/93 Okayama-ken Taiikukan
Perry Saturn vs. Black Cat
Masa Saito vs. Tatsutoshi Goto
Jushin Thunder Liger & Osamu Kido vs. Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine
Masahiro Chono vs. Matthew Rambo
Riki Choshu & Akira Nogami vs. Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka
2/13/93 Okayama-ken Taiikukan
Hell Raisers vs. Takashi Iizuka & Tatsumi Fujinami
Keiji Muto & Hiroshi Hase vs. Tony Halme & Brad Armstrong
2/16/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Osamu Nishimura vs. Shinjiro Otani
Manabu Nakanishi & Satoshi Kojima vs. Yuji Nagata & Hiroyoshi Yamamoto
Akira Nogami vs. Brad Armstrong
2/16/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
El Samurai vs. Masao Orihara
Ultimo Dragon & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Hiro Saito & Norio Honaga
Masashi Aoyagi & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto
Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono & Keiji Muto vs. Great Kabuki & Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura
2/16/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
IWGP Tag Title Match: Hellraisers vs. Tony Halme & Matthew Rambo
2/3 Falls NJ vs. WAR 10 Man Tag Match: Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu & Osamu Kido & Hiroshi Hase & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara & Takashi Ishikawa & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Koki Kitahara
3/9/93 Akita Shiritsu Taiikukan: Dean Malenko & Wild Pegasus vs. Jushin Liger & El Samurai
3/9/93 Akita Shiritsu Taiikukan
Akitoshi Saito & The Great Kabuki vs. Takashi Iizuka & Akira Nogami
Raging Staff vs. Heisei Ishingun 4 Single 4 Battles
Norio Honaga vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi
Hiro Saito vs. Masashi Aoyagi
Tatsutoshi Goto vs. Kengo Kimura
Super Strong Machine vs. Shiro Koshinaka
Masahiro Chono & Keiji Muto & Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Scott Norton & Hercules Hernandez & TNT (Savio Vega) & Axe Boulder (Horace Boulder)
3/9/93 Akita Shiritsu Taiikukan, Young Lion Cup League Matches
Shinjiro Otani vs. Tokimitsu Ishizawa
Satoshi Kojima vs. Osamu Nishimura
Manabu Nakanishi vs. Hiroyoshi Yamamoto
4/6/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Osamu Nishimura vs. Tokimitsu Ishizawa
Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata vs. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Yamamoto
4/6/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Akira Nogami vs. The Great Kabuki
Michiyoshi Ohara vs. Takashi Ishikawa
Norio Honaga & Ultimo Dragon vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai
4 vs. 3 Handicap Tag Match: Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito & Hiromichi Fuyuki & Koki Kitahara vs. Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka & Akitoshi Saito
4/6/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
IWGP Tag Title Match: Hell Raisers vs. Masahiro Chono & Takayuki Iizuka
Tatsumi Fujinami & Osamu Kido vs. Super Strong Machine & Ashura Hara
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu
3/23/93 Tokyo Taiikukan: Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai vs. Pegasus Kid & Dean Malenko
3/23/93 Tokyo Taiikukan
4th Young Lion Cup Final: Osamu Nishimura vs. Hiroyoshi Yamamoto
Hell Raisers vs. Hercules & Scott Norton
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki
Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa
5/3/93 Fukuoka Dome
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Yamamoto & Osamu Nishimura vs. El Samurai & Akira Nogami & Takayuki Iizuka
Akitoshi Saito vs. Michiyoshi Ohara
Brutus Beefcake vs. Masa Saito
Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Great Kabuki & Masashi Aoyagi vs. Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito & Ishikawa & Ashura Hara
5/3/93 Fukuoka Dome
Sting vs. Scott Norton
Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Hiroshi Hase
6/5/93 Mie Tsu-shi Taiikukan
Black Cat vs. Satoshi Kojima
Eddy Guerrero vs. Lightning Kid
Shinjiro Otani vs. Norio Honaga
6/5/93 Mie Tsu-shi Taiikukan
Flying Scorpio vs. Wild Pegasus
Manabu Nakanishi & Hiroshi Hase vs. Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine
Bobby Eaton & Tony Halme vs. Masahiro Chono & Takashi Iizuka
Keiji Muto & Akira Nogami vs. Great Kabuki & Akitoshi Saito
Shinya Hashimoto & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka
6/15/93 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
Osamu Nishimura & Shinjiro Otani & Yuji Nagata vs. Yuji Yasuraoka & Nobukazu Hirai & Yoshiro Ito 12:44
Satoshi Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Kodo Fuyuki & Koki Kitahara 12:49
El Samurai & Pegasus Kid vs. Ultimo Dragon & Dean Malenko 15:43
Hellraisers (Hawk Warrior & Power Warrior) vs. Kim Duk & "The Earthquake" John Tenta 15:51
6/5/93 Mie Tsu-shi Taiikukan: Michiyoshi Ohara vs. Masasho Aoyogi
6/15/93 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Great Muta vs. Great Kabuki
Elimination Match: Tatsumi Fujinami & Riki Choshu & Shinya Hashimoto & Masahiro Chono & Hiroshi Hase vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Super Strong Machine & Ashura Hara & Takashi Ishikawa & Tatsutoshi Goto
6/20/93 Ueda Shimin Taiikukan
Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Tokimitsu Ishikawa
Satoshi Kojima vs. Yuji Nagata
Paul Diamind & Brad Rheigans vs. Takashi Iizuka & Manabu Nakanishi
Great Kabuki & Kunyaki Kobayashi vs. Masahiro Chono & Akira Nogami
Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito vs. Masashi Aoyagi & Akitoshi Saito
TNT vs. Keiji Muto
6/20/93 Ueda Shimin Taiikukan
Shinya Hashimoto & Michiyoshi Ohara vs. Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka
Tatsumi Fujinami & Hiroshi Hase & Riki Choshu vs. Scott Norton & Hercules Hernandez & Brad Armstrong
taped 7/13/93 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Yuji Nagata vs. Shinjiro Otani
Kuniaki Kobayashi & Masaji Aoyagi & Akitoshi Saito vs. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto
Tiger Mask III vs. Norio Honaga
7/13/93 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. El Samurai
Satoshi Kojima & Michiyoshi Ohara & Hiroshi Hase vs. The Great Kabuki & Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura
Scott Norton & Hercules Hernandez vs. TNT & Brad Armstrong
Tatsumi Fujinami & Masahiro Chono vs. Osamu Kido & Yoshiaki Fujiwara
IWGP Tag Title Match: Hawk Warrior & Power Warrior vs. Keiji Muto & Shinya Hashimoto
7/14/93 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Shinya Hashimoto vs. The Great Kabuki
Keiji Muto vs. Brad Armstrong
Jushin Thunder Liger & Shinjiro Otani vs. Tiger Mask III & El Samurai
The Hell Raisers vs. Scott Norton & Hercules Hernandez
Kengo Kimura & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Akitoshi Saito & Masashi Aoyagi vs. Takashi Ishikawa & Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito & Super Strong Machine
7/14/93 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Masahiro Chono & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara
7/22/93 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Black Cat
Norio Honaga vs. Shinjiro Otani
Akitoshi Saito vs. Yuji Nagata
Manabu Nakanishi vs. Akira Nogami
7/22/93 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Jushin Thunder Liger & Tokimitsu Ishizawa vs. Osamu Nishimura & El Samurai
Michiyoshi Ohara & Takashi Iizuka & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto & Super Strong Machine
Power Warrior & Hawk Warrior vs. Hercules Hernandez & Scott Norton
Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Masashi Aoyagi & The Great Kabuki & Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura
8/3/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Akitoshi Saito
Wild Pegasus vs. Tiger Mask (Kanemoto)
Power Warrior & Road Warrior Hawk vs. The Nasty Boys
Jushin Thunder Liger & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara
G1 Climax Tournament 1st Round: Takashi Iizuka vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki
8/12/92 Ryogoku Kokugikan: Masahiro Chono vs. Rick Rude
8/3/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
'93 G1 Climax Tournament 1st Round: Shiro Koshinaka vs. Super Strong Machine
'93 G1 Climax Tournament 1st Round: Masahiro Chono vs. Ashura Hara
'93 G1 Climax Tournament 1st Round: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Hiroshi Hase
Shinjiro Otani & Satoshi Kojima & Osamu Nishimura vs. Yuji Yasuraoka & Nobukazi Hirai & Yoshihiro Ito
8/3/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan: Keiji Muto & Akira Nogami & Manabu Nakanishi vs. The Great Kabuki & Kengo Kimura & Masashi Aoyagi
8/8/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Shinjiro Otani vs. Eddie Guerrero
Black Cat & Osamu Kido vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki & Koki Kitahara
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Wild Pegasus 14:35. ****
8/8/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Masahiro Chono & Takashi Iizuka & Tatsumi Fujinami & Keiji Muto & Michioyoshi Ohara vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura & The Great Kabuki & Masashi Aoyagi & Kuniaki Kobayashi
IWGP Tag Title Match: Hercules Hernandez & Scott Norton vs. Road Warrior Hawk & Power Warrior (Hell Raisers)
Hiroshi Hase vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu
8/8/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Satoshi Kojima vs. Yuji Yasuraoka & Nobukazu Hirai & Yoshihiro Ito
Osamu Nishimura vs. Akitoshi Saito
8/7/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan, '93 G1 Climax Final: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Hiroshi Hase
9/23/93 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena
Black Tiger vs. Tiger Mask III
Scott Norton & Hercules Hernandez vs. Takayuki Iizuka & Akira Nogami
Hiromichi Fuyuki & Koki Kitahara vs. Masahiro Chono & Manabu Nakanishi
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Jake Roberts
9/23/93 Kanagawa Yokohama Arena
Tatsumi Fujinami & Tokimitsu Ishizawa vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Yuki Ishikawa
The Great Muta & Hulk Hogan vs. The Hellraisers (Road Warrior Hawk & Kensuke Sasaki)
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Hiroshi Hase
11/4/93 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
Shinjiro Otani vs. Tokimitsu Ishizawa
Yuji Nagata vs. Manabu Nakanishi
Scott Norton & Hercules Hernandez vs. The Barbarian & Sean Royal
Super Strong Machine vs. Tatsutoshi Goto
Tatsumi Fujinami & El Samurai & Osamu Kido & Black Cat & Satoshi Kojima vs. Kengo Kimura & The Great Kabuki & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Masashi Aoyagi & Michiyoshi Ohara
4/23/81 Kuramae Kokugikan: Tiger Mask vs. The Dynamite Kid
9/23/81 Den'en Coliseum: Tiger Mask vs. Solar
11/5/81 Kuramae Kokugikan: Tiger Mask vs. Gran Hamada
2/5/85 Aichi-ken Taiikukan: Black Tiger vs. The Cobra
5/11/85 Fukuoka Sports Center: Gran Hamada & The Cobra vs. El Canek & Hiro Saito