Mask v Mask Match: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Tiger Mask - NJPW Battlefield In Tokyo Dome 04/01/1994
Interesting match. Loved the entrances with the elevated platforms. Both men came off like big deals for this match. There was a ton of mat-work to start off with. Tiger Mask dominated the match with grounded headscissors and kicks when they went to their feet but Liger eventually worked his way on top with his counters and smarts. I don’t think the gimmick ever really suited Kanemoto and he was much better without it. ***
Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Muto vs. The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner) - NJPW Battlefield In Tokyo Dome 04/01/1994
Pretty cool story that the Steiners were signed with the WWF at the time and they forced themselves back into New Japan using the famous independent contractor route. Neat that. I thought the early mat-work portions were a little boring and static as not much was really happening but the rest of the match brought that quality. Muto and Hase doing the long ramp run was awesome and the crowd blew a gasket when Muto went for it. Scott Steiner showed great signs of star power and charisma. His power moves came off the page in a big way. The pop for the (perhaps) debut of the Steiner Screwdriver was tremendous and he played it up perfectly. The finishing stretch was pretty good with tons of good near falls although the actual finish was a little off. A good tag team match at the dome. ***1/2
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Hulk Hogan (w/Jimmy Hart) - NJPW Battlefield In Tokyo Dome 04/01/1994
Ah yes. Yet another one of “Hogan can wrestle” matches. If by wrestle, people mean completely bore everyone to tears despite facing off against one of the best technical wrestlers of all time, then yes, he can wrestle. With that being said, he definitely can wrestle but it’s generally overly exaggerated and overhyped with this match and the Muta match being the main two examples. Fujinami’s role is just to feed Hogan and then lose. Poor match. But the crowd goes nuts for the posing after the match. They got what they wanted in the end. **
Riki Choshu vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara - NJPW Battlefield In Tokyo Dome 04/01/1994
Choshu’s Super Cena finish aside, I don’t see much wrong with this. Almost every review and Dave’s DUD rating would suggest that this is a bad match. It’s not in any shape or form. Choshu is clearly still hurting from previous injuries but Fujiwara is so slick, so fluid and just a joy to watch that it didn’t matter. The quick takedowns and the toying was pretty fun to watch. They got the most out of very little and that’s what was so good about this. If you wanted a 5 star classic, watch something else but this was a super fun match that anyone *should* enjoy but I guess not. ***1/4
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto (c) vs. Masahiro Chono - NJPW Battlefield In Tokyo Dome 04/01/1994
A tough match to get much thoughts on. There were tons of quality moments in the match. I loved the STF hold sequences where Chono squeezes every last bit of drama out of them. The strikes were stiff and violent from Hashimoto. The finishing stretch was really awesome. But it was all stretched out over nearly 30 minutes. It felt stretched out and inorganically long. That really killed the match at times. Not the best from Chono after some incredible form last year but it was good enough I guess. Just flawed structurally. ***
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Antonio Inoki - NJPW Battlefield In Tokyo Dome 04/01/1994
So here it is, the moment of truth. Since Genichiro Tenryu stepped foot in New Japan, I think he was always destined to face off against Antonio Inoki. Especially so after how strongly he was booked throughout the New Japan vs WAR feud. WAR was the constant losers of the matches but not Tenryu and nor should’ve been. This is the dream match. And the match was played out in a rather unconventional way. For one, Inoki throughout the match is seemingly a heel with a lot of his attacks being underhanded and totally unlike a home promotion hero. And Inoki was THE home promotion hero. Tenryu was the sympathetic one in the match. The one on the defensive and needing the hot crowd to kick him back to life and get the win, which is actually the most shocking thing about the match. Tenryu beat Inoki in the ring. No DQ. No Countout. Pure pinfall. A rare loss for Inoki and in the main event of the Tokyo Dome against the outsider (part time legend in the making too) Genichiro Tenryu. Incredible. The match may split a few people. The match starts off with the classic staredown with a little tentative reaching by both. Inoki then fired off closed fists and then choked Tenryu out cold. The match stops dead for a while. The referee is allowing Tenryu to recover due to the illegal nature of the hold. I love that because it’s logical and I think it worked superbly in building heat and sympathy for Tenryu down the stretch but I can see someone totally being put off by it. But when Tenryu begins to recover, the match is superheated and cooked. Inoki was great in picking apart what was left of Tenryu, riding his enziguri attempts and locking on the manji gatame and the cross armbreaker, and not breaking for it. Tneryu sells his vulnerability superbly with his body language and the desperation shown in his offence. There was an awesome moment where Inoki is throwing punches at Tenryu who’s huddled over in the corner before Tenryu tries off desperate chops and then another wild kick as a defence before getting the powerbomb for the three. Super weird match that’s slowly paced but is executed in a thrilling and very compelling way. And it tells a wonderful story. Inoki and Tenryu shook hands at the end and the show ended with the Ichi…Ni…San…Da promo. ****1/2
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