NJPW Summer Struggle 1993
Jushin Thunder Liger & Shinjiro Otani vs. El Samurai & Tiger Mask - NJPW Summer Struggle 1993 - Day 11: Sapporo Double Impact 14/07/1993
This started out as your standard, generic Junior match but it soon turned into an insane, fast paced match that you’d associate with the Junior style these days. There was an awesome diving sequence where everyone in some way took or did a dive to the outside. And almost every dive was done in the most reckless but spectacular way. Samurai launched Tiger Mask in the sky but TM didn’t get the full rotation on the flip so he just turned his body. Tiger Mask’s Dragon Rana to Otani while he was on El Samurai’s shoulders was insane too. One thing I love about Otani is that he always seems to have a rocket up his boot. So much energy and fire in his offence. Brillant. ***1/2
Masahiro Chono & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ashura Hara & Genichiro Tenryu - NJPW Summer Struggle 1993 - Day 11: Sapporo Double Impact 14/07/1993
This was another incredible WAR vs New Japan match. The outcome was never really in doubt but they still put on a big show. The crowd was super hot for the New Japan boys - Chono in particular was the hot commodity of the match. The WAR Crew were outright vicious with her hard strikes and snug lariats focused towards Chono. The potshots they’d throw towards Fujinami was great. He’d get riled up and come in and kick ass. Chono is able to channel the crowd heat to maximise her performance. His quick comeback is a bit sudden but it further puts the STF over as a strong move. ****
NJPW G1 Climax 1993
Jushin Thunder Liger & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara - NJPW G1 Climax 1993 - Day 2 03/08/1993
This was a super brisk match with insane pacing. And we get rare Liger vs Heavyweight pairing as an added plus too. Kitahara is dressed like Dusty Rhodes in ECW sans the hat and I'm not sure why but he gets mega heat from the crowd. There are tons of cool moments in this such as Liger nailing Tenryu with Oshidashi slaps (I think that's what they are called. I'm Sumo novice, sorry) but Tenryu comes back twice as hard. You don't do that to an Ex-Sumo wrestler. The Liger dogging of Tenryu's attacks for the finish was rad. Tenryu's shitface look after he won was gold. Fujinami came in bursts and looked totally badass. Perfect role for him. ***1/4
G1 Climax 1993 First Round Match: Hiroshi Hase vs. Shinya Hashimoto - NJPW G1 Climax 1993 - Day 2 03/08/1993
On initial viewing, I wasn’t into the grappling portion of the match that most of the match is built around. Hashimoto has never really stood out as a great mat-worker to me and it didn’t fully click as a whole. On second viewing though, it came out a bit better. I loved seeing the struggle between two wrestlers who essentially have the same strategy: attacking the leg. Hase switching up the way he did the figure four, pushing the leg with his soles rather than the back of the leg, was clever. Hashimoto trapping Hase’s arm while trying to lock the other in an armbar was a nifty transition into a potential submission. I really dug how things escalated from pure 70s style grappling to more strikes being thrown to the legs, by both Hase and Hashimoto. Hashimoto would throw sweeping kicks, taking Hase out from under him while Hase would use dropkicks and stomping knees. Hashimoto utilized his kicks in brilliant ways. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kick to the leg being used as a defence to someone (Hase in this case) coming off the top rope. Eventually Hashimoto takes full control of the match and Hase looks in total danger. Hase’s selling is really strong for this final stretch of the match, being able to make the most of Hashimoto’s offence. Hashimoto looked like a killer when he was throwing vicious head kicks to a kneeling Hase. The finish is perhaps too sudden with Hase just sneaking the win after being pummeled for a good while though. The crowd and Hase go nuts at the surprise win though. A match I’m glad I revisited. ****1/4
G1 Climax 1993 Semi Final Match: Hiroshi Hase vs. Masahiro Chono - NJPW G1 Climax 1993 - Day 5 05/08/1993
These two had an awesome little gem at the backend of 1992 that ended with Hase beating Chono with a constant assault on the recently injured neck. Hase continues with that strategy in this match too. His cerebral-like targeting of the neck was brilliant. He throws some hard elbows shots to the neck and wicked variations of the stunner with extra torque. Just wearing Chono down with laser focused offence. Hase even indulged in some heelish tactics as well by slamming Chono throat-first onto the ropes. Chono’s selling is fantastic in the process. If anyone is able to sell neck pain, it’s Chono. But I love what he brings offensively to the match as well. I loved the work he did on the ankle and shins of Hase. Just grind, grind, grind in order to regain the advantage. The match is rich with high level drama and submission work. The best matches are when critical submissions are the high spots of the match. And Chono’s STF brings that in spades. Hase’s figure four is just as important for the match too as it transitions into the final third of the match. The back and forth flow between these two was so compelling. The struggle in the momentum, the figure four rolling spots to the outside, the immense selling from both wrestlers. Just incredible. Hase’s barrage of uranages and northern light suplexes matched against Chono’s Yakuza kicks was the perfect note to end the match on. But instead they keep going and perhaps get the even better finish of Hase getting the submission win with Chono’s own STF. Brilliant. Just brilliant. I don’t know. Everything about this match thrilled me. It’s made me all giddy. Incredible selling throughout the match. Great pacing that was able to get the best out of both wrestler’s styles and add all the little details to go with that overarching story. Outstanding match. ****3/4
G1 Climax 1993 Final Match: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Hiroshi Hase - NJPW G1 Climax 1993 - Day 6 07/08/1993
The final, the end, the grand finale of the G1 Climax. A ton of the matches aren’t available in the way needed but what is available in full is quality matches. And Hase’s been at the front of all of that. Can he take that final step of beating The Dragon himself? Hashimoto went down. Chono went down. Fujinami is next. I loved the initial flurry where Fujinami and Hase battle each other with some light grappling before Fujinami plants Hase on his neck with a german suplex. He didn’t follow it up and it cost him as Hase regained footing and nailed a uranage on the floor. The match moved up a tempo once Fujinami attacked the leg after Hase left it open. Fujinami kept going back to the figure four to soften up the leg to great success. Hase in return kept throwing hard suplexes to great applause. They built Hase’s barrage of german/dragon suplexes up so well as a match winner throughout the tournament so when Hase got into a groove, the crowd bit on that as the finish. Fujinami just surviving it with a suplex of his own was pretty great. And the recurring leg work by Fujinami eventually paid off when Fujinami locked on the Scorpion Deathlock to get the win. It was not the best G1 Finals you’ll ever see but I dug it a ton. It followed a lot of the similar notes that the Chono v Hase match had but with less flair to it. Fujinami’s selling wasn’t great as far as the back goes either. But this was a borderline great match I thought. ***3/4
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu - NJPW G1 Climax 1993 - Day 7 08/08/1993
This was the perfect New Japan wrestler defending the honor of the company against the rough, rugged outsider who doesn’t care about your history style of match. Tenryu is willing to kick you in the eyes while you’re on the ground, attack you in the ropes. They start by carefully making deliberate moves. Hashimoto works the arm but Tenryu defends well so Hashimoto peppers him up with low kicks to the legs before ripping at the arm once again. Tenryu fired off some brutal chops to the throat but he kept on getting outdone by Hashimoto’s continuing attack on the arm. Tenryu sells the arm really well too. And not just for the arm, every offence Hashimoto threw at him looked dangerous. Hashimoto is able to project so much into his offence both emotionally and physically that it comes off so big. The finishing stretch was superbly done. There was a ton of “Hits a move. Rest”but it works in their favour adding to the significance of the moves being dished out and what will come next. The struggle to the final pin is a big one. The nearfalls are nail biting as well. Eventually Tenryu puts Big Hash away with three powerbombs but Hashimoto’s stock is raised big time. ****1/4
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