NJPW Best Of The Super Junior II
Best Of The Super Junior II Semi Final Match: Black Tiger vs. Wild Pegasus - Day 18 - 13/07/1995
Very good match. There was some nice flow to the match with the combination of some big moves from both.. Thought Wild Pegasus using the second rope tombstone was nuts. Black Tiger looked injured afterwards, not sure if it was real or not but it certainly convinced me. ***1/2
Best Of The Super Junior II Final Match: Wild Pegasus vs. Shinjiro Otani - NJPW Best Of The Super Junior II - Day 18 - 13/07/1995
Classic mat work to start with greco roman knuckle locks that transition into a surfboard. The grappling was basic but skilled enough to be interesting. There would be spells of action, some that ended with Pesgssus winning after a shouldblock or Otani going to the air and taking Pegasus over with a headscissors before it goes back to the mat. The match gets really boring after that with aimless holds that get no heat. There is a far too long camel clutch by Pegasus and there is no drama in Otani’s arm-breaker. It’s flat out dull until they start doing spots and kick outs. Otani’s springboard offence is a thing of beauty but that’s all he brought to the table. Pegasus won with an awesome tombstone from the second rope. Snoozefest, really. Disappointing finals. **1/4
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Keiji Muto (c) vs. Hawk Warrior - NJPW Best Of The Super Junior II - Day 18 - 13/07/1995
Another aimless, heatless affair. Mutoh had a great title defence against Hiroyoshi Tenzan but this was a downer. **1/4
NJPW G1 Climax 1995
G1 Climax 1995 Block A Match: Keiji Muto vs. Shiro Koshinaka - NJPW G1 Climax 1995 - Day 1 - 11/08/1995
The crowd were itching to see this and these two delivered a rather energetic match. The grappling early on has bite to it, Mutoh changes things often to keep things interesting, releasing the holds to hit the rolling elbow before stretching Koshinaka’s hamstring. Mutoh tried to do the same thing to Koshinaka as he did with Tenzan, remaining in control as the strong champion and cutting off Koshinaka’s attempts at the comeback. Koshinka started to rally after catching Mutoh while he was doing the handspring elbow and hitting a dragon suplex, which Mutoh initially blocked. Mutoh regained control smartly and hit some incredible dropkicks to the back of the head, also getting a great nearfall after a hurricanrana. Koshinaka had some great hope spots, like his reversal into the backslide. And the powerbomb counter to the frankensteiner was absolutely insane from Koshinaka. Plus they saved it as a move with Mutoh getting a rope break instead of kicking out of it. From there it was Koshinaka putting the finishing touches to score the upset, which he did and the crowd went wild. ****
G1 Climax 1995 Block A Match: Keiji Muto vs. Ric Flair - NJPW G1 Climax 1995 - Day 3 - 13/08/1995
Ric Flair in Japan is always a weird sight. His style and characteristics doesn't seem like it would suit the environment and it showed. The crowd didn't seem into the match at first, getting used to the way Flair wrestled and everything he did but they soon started getting into the match. Flair attacking the leg all match, busting Muto open which leads to an awesome visual of a bloody Muto screaming in agony whilst in the figure four leg lock. The ending was good but a bit superman-like with Muto not doing very much before hitting the moonsault for the win. Could've done with an extended ending but good match nevertheless. ****
G1 Climax 1995 Final Match: Keiji Muto vs. Shinya Hashimoto - NJPW G1 Climax 1995 - Day 5 - 15/08/1995
With Muto still injured from Flair, busting him open meant this was an almighty challenge. Hashimoto picked him apart in the early parts with some great work on the legs and arms, which Mutoh sold, as with everything else, really well. Hashimoto recut Mutoh, causing blood to trickle but that was all visual compared to some of the brutal moves in the match, such as the awesome brainbuster that Hashimoto leveled at Mutoh but this was Mutoh’s time to shine. And he really shined with his magnetic aura and movements. And the finish of him hitting moonsaults until Hashimoto finally relented was magnificent in my opinion. Mutoh wouldn’t be denied. ****1/2
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