Yearbook - NJPW - 1995

Hi folks! I thought that 1990's New Japan wrestling was only about the Junior wrestlers - Jushin Liger, Pegasus Kid, Black Tiger II (Eddie Guerrero), Koji Kanemoto et al. I've come to understand that the heavyweight wrestlers had a lot to offer too. The reason for this misunderstanding was due to how highly rated the Juniors matches were rated by Dave Meltzer and folks in the internet wrestling community. These matches and shows seemed to be the equivalent of AJPW's amazing heavyweight bouts. Battles between Ultimo Dragon and Shinjiro Otani were getting as many stars & accolades as Misawa vs Kawada. Therefore, I (and many others) wanted to watch that! And I'm really glad that I did. I also think WCW's cruiserweight division contributed to this viewing bias. A person can easily find that Benoit, Guerrero, Malenko, Ultimo Dragon all had significant matches over in NJPW. On top of that, they can find that their matches were against Liger Kanemoto, Otani, and others who had made appearances in WCW over the years. I think ECW's influence can be stated here as well. This is probably why for a long time New Japan's Super J Cup show from 1994 was extremely popular starting point for folks. I feel like there's a good portion of folks that skipped right most of NJPW's other output as a result.

I'm not a trailblazer by any means. Folks have dug into this once overlooked area of New Japan in the last 15 years. I sense with the passage of time some of what they uncovered is getting lost again. Additionally, I think there might be more they might have skipped over. There's only so much time & so much wrestling! Anyhow, I want to dig my teeth into New Japan of the '90's. I want to focus on the heavyweight wrestling while sampling some the junior matches that might have been missed. I decided, for whatever reason, 1995 would be a good place to start. Please note, I'm not reviewing everything. These matches are things that I find interesting and/or that haven't gotten a ton of hype previously.

January through March

From the 01/04 show:

Norio Honaga vs. The Great Sasuke - So here's where the junior early portion typically goes wrong: guy works a body part and that guy getting beat on does nothing to escape, counter, reverse or defend himself. He just sells and goes to the ropes over and over. That's what starts to happen here. Sasuke, the most agile wrestler of this era could try to flip out, roll through, escape etc. but he slinks away or grabs the ropes. Thankfully, they sort it out and the rest of the match was a lot of fun! Thank goodness!! Nice moves from Sasuke & Honaga had great timing. A good pairing since it always seems like Sasuke vs Liger or Ultimo in NJPW. 

Koji Kanemoto vs. Yuji Nagata  - Yes! They just beat the crap out of each other and try to break limbs for 90% of the match. Koji & Nagata fans really want to see this. I wish the finish was different or better executed but for a exhibition type match like this, it doesn't matter. The ass kicking is what led you here. Very good to maybe great match.

Also from this Dome show are the Steiners vs Muto & Hase and Hashimoto vs Sasaki both are great matches, at least **** each. I recommend both.

From the 02/03 show:

Keiji Muto vs. Scott Norton - Very good match as Muto needed to come up with something to defeat the juggernaut Scott Norton. This was a good sample of Norton's power offense and Muto thinking outside his box by going after the arm. It doesn't lead to the finish but it's not pointless. It's actually a good target since Norton is using his arms for 95% of his offense. The pace could have been a little snappier but Norton isn't Mr. Cardio. I wouldn't say this was close to a classic but definitely something different from Muto & a recommendation for anyone wanting to see a very good Norton match...which I was 🙂

Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Shinya Hashimoto - Hashi-f-ing-moto! This was awesome. Tenzan, who's not yet a full baddie, is trying to test the champ. This is his chance to elevate himself one way or another. Hash shows him that being champ means more than just being able to dish out punishment. One has to endure it and push on. I think this was a near classic match...maybe low end classic. I think they did everything so well in terms of pacing, storytelling, a sense of realism, etc.

Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Masahiro Chono (03/07) - Impromptu tag match...no rules either perhap but they ring the bell..so it's official. This is the most ECW match in New Japan that I've seen! It's awesome! They are trying to maim each other in the crowd. Eventually things settle down but it still is intense, great stuff. Fellow Hase fans need to see this one!

Koji Kanemoto vs. Wild Pegasus (03/13) - Great chain wrestling to begin with and an escalation of action until the end. 1995 is when Koji comes into his own I feel. I know these two have a classic in September '95 and this is a warm up to that match. So if you've seen & enjoy that one then, you should give this a try. What holds this back from being a classic is that Benoit and many others around this time employ the move-after-move offense. That's to say, they try one move and go for a pin, try another move go for a pin etc. And I thought, 'is there any move Benoit can't do?' And here, he does a couple too many neat moves. I prefer when Benoit uses strikes like elbows, chops and headbutts a bit more to make his suplexes more special. This is a preference so take that with a grain of salt. Great match nonetheless. Benoit & Koji work well together & I'm glad I saw this.

Antonio Inoki vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (03/19) - A match as much about aura as anything else. I can't say this was amazing in terms of mat action but man! it felt like a big deal. Now don't misunderstand me, this was a good wrestling match especially if you enjoy old school grappling with a slower pace. If that's your thing then the aforementioned aura will elevate this bout for you. Also, this looks to be the only Inoki or Fujiwara matches for this project so, I am glad that I watched it.

I'm having great fun watching these matches from 1995. I feel like I'm getting good variety from what I've selected & has been recommended by others. Part Two will be out shortly! 

Thanks for reading!