NJPW Fighting Spirit 1994

 

Hiroshi Hase & Riki Choshu vs. The Hell Raisers (Hawk Warrior & Power Warrior) - NJPW Fighting Spirit 1994 - Day 6 05/02/1994

A bit of a disappointing match to watch considering the names. Their other match in 1992 produced an awesome squash. This was more even but it was just there with no much happening. It was just a middle of the road tag match. **1/2

Super Strong Machine vs. Shiro Koshinaka - NJPW Fighting Spirit 1994 - Day 6 05/02/1994

This is a part of the Heisei Ishingun vs WAR series that took place on the same show. This is the only match I’m going to watch, but it’s the most important as it's the tie breaker. Both sides have 3 wins each. Whoever wins this, takes the whole unofficial series. Tenryu just beat Tatsutoshi Goto in 4 minutes so it's on Koshinaka to deliver the goods for Heisei Ishingun. Super Strong Machine isn’t a push over however and more than gives Koshinaka trouble. Koshinaka looks promising in the opening moments with his hip attacks and big forearms but he gets cut off and suplexed off the ropes. SSM works over Koshinaka with power moves and submissions. It’s nothing brilliant but it’s effective and Koshinaka sells it all very well. Koshinka is super over with the crowd and he milks it in when he can like when Koshinaka goes to take off the mask of Strong Machine, for example. The finishing run is, again, simple enough with Koshinaka running through his signature moves while playing to the crowd in between them - his hip attack off the top rope was pretty cool - with SSM throwing in a few big offensive moves himself.  The crowd bit on a few of the nearfalls and really screamed their support for Koshinaka, popping extra big for the O’Connor roll pin. ***1/2

Masahiro Chono & Shinya Hashimoto vs. The Hell Raisers (Hawk Warrior & Power Warrior) - NJPW Fighting Spirit 1994 - Day 7 06/02/1994

The IWGP Tag Team titles are not on the line so the result is a little less predictable and more open. Hashimoto is the guy in New Japan as of this point as well. The Hell Raisers are at the rare disadvantage of being the lesser team for once. This was an awesome match by the finishing stretch. Hawk looked good in this. His usual powermoves got big pops but his dive over the ropes into Chono was just amazing. Chono and Hashimoto worked well as a unit and used that to soften Power Warrior up before finally submitting him with a Dragon Sleeper out of the STF. ***1/2 

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Shiro Koshinaka - NJPW Fighting Spirit 1994 - Day 7 06/02/1994

Similar story to the night before. Only Heisei Ishingun is against New Japan. It’s again 3-3 but now Koshinka is against former IWGP Heavyweight Champion, the legend, the dragon, Tatsumi Fujinami. Fujinami came out fighting in the early parts of the match with aggressive attacks,  going for Koshinaka’s leg. Fujinami threw some awesome palm strikes to the side of the head as well.  Fujianmi can sometimes do nothing in a match for large periods but he is all action. It’s refreshing to see him recapture some of that energy that his 90s run lacks somewhat compared to his 80s run. Koshinaka attacks Fujinami’s injured arm to try and gain some advantage,  using the over the shoulder arm-wringers. One of the best moments of the match is Fujinami getting sick of those and doing it right back. What a great revenge spot. They made great use of each other’s signature offence and used it to create exciting and logical counters, like how Koshinaka’s hip-attacks leave him prone to Fujinami catching him with a german or a dragon suplex. I really loved the finishing stretch. Fujinami’s selling of the arm was just brilliant. He was able to gain so much crowd interaction with his selling and attempts at making a comeback despite the obvious pain he was going through. It even got to the point where Hase (who was on the outside with the other New Japan representatives, Choshu included) was trying to save Fujinami at the end when Koshinaka locked on the cross arm-breaker. Fujinami had to submit to the end but he went down like he usually did, with a fight. Great win for Koshinaka. And what a great match. ****

Jushin Thunder Liger & Power Warrior vs. The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner) - NJPW Fighting Spirit 1994 - Day 15 17/02/1994

A pretty fun match. The Steiners picked Liger apart and destroyed him in the first half of the match and then did the same to Power Warrior. Liger not selling the first beatdown was annoying but he took that sick finish (Rick Steiner turning a device attempt into a powerslam). ***

Special Non-Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu - NJPW Fighting Spirit 1994 - Day 15 17/02/1994

Excellent, excellent blow off to not only the New Japan v Tenryu story but Hashimoto vs Tenryu itself. In 1993, these two faced off in high level, physical matches with Hashimoto just coming up short, both in WAR and New Japan territory. But now, Hashimoto is IWGP Heavyweight champion and is the biggest representative of the promotion. High stakes for Hashimoto. In addition to that, Tenryu was a month away from defeating Antonio Inoki himself. So for Hashimoto to finally get that win was just a magnificent and significant moment. I’m not sure when Hashimoto became that main guy, the ace, so to speak, but this is pretty much the perfect match to point to as any.

The match is tremendous in the most simple of ways. The grappling in the early parts of the match is simple but purposely. It made for a nice build to the more progressive part of the match with all the selling and striking. Tenryu was at his most surliest for sure with his sly kicks to the face and unwillingness to let Hashimoto breath while he was in the ropes. Hashimoto brought the exact same attitude. Neither was willing to give up an inch and took every opportunity they could. They made excellent use of their strikes to escalate the match further and create even more drama. Tenryu throws chops to the throat only to get kicked in the knee by Hashimoto for example. I loved the unexpected moments of the match like Tenryu running the ropes twice before leveling Hashimoto with his lariat in the corner (which I’m sure in kayfabe added more speed and power to the move) and when Hashimoto blocked Tenryu’s DDT off the 2nd rope and slammed him to the floor. The big middle stretch where they were just going back and forth, hitting each other with any kick you can find - kappou, head kick, leaping enziguri, spinning heel kick - was just terrific. And their staggering selling made it all feel impactful and made it feel like a real war. The finish was just great with Hashimoto surviving the folding powerbomb before finally hitting the Jumping DDT correctly and winning to a fantastic ovation. ****3/4