NJPW G1 Climax Special 1995

Now the G1 Climax Tournament is finished, it’s time for the big stretch of the year to begin - New Japan vs UWFI!

NJPW G1 Climax Special 1995 - Day 7 - 23/09/1995

Wild Pegasus vs. Lord Steven Regal

I think it’s wonderful that the bookers of New Japan knew to point these together in a twenty minute match. Regal obviously impressed against Hashimoto and Inoki (in the US) and Benoit has been a mainstay of the Junior Division for half the decade up-to this point. It’s not smart booking to have Benoit to lose two days before he is set to face Koji Kanemoto for the Junior title though. But Regal is the heavyweight. The match goes like this: Regal rips at Benoit’s arm, twisting the wrist out of sorts and slamming it down on the canvas with Benoit replying with an Americana wristlock as a defence but Regal was able to escape before resuming his assault on the arm. The milage that these two were able to get out of holds around the wrist was amazing - Regal showed his WOS roots with some fabulous rolls to escape Benoit’s grip, for starters but Regal then tied the wrist up away from Benoit’s face, leaving no defence for Regal’s palm strikes which were as snug as you could imagine. There were other cool spots throughout the match like Benoit locking on the short arm scissors which lead to Regal pulling off the Gotch Lift - my favourite move - before being dragged back to the mat and then they did an excellently executed roman knucklock-monkey flip exchange that was both impressive athletically but still had to unmistakable signs of a struggle. Benoit gets a little more nasty towards the back stretch of the match, hitting chops to the chest and posting Regal on the outside. Regal gets bloody in the nose which makes for a great target for Benoit. Regal was able to fire back with uppercuts but he gets taken down by a frankensteiner. Regal shows some great selling off the leg (could be real) before going into a semi-comedy spot where he constantly tries to pin Benoit over and over again. Benoit,, funnily enough, does the same before the twenty minute call is made. The finish is a simple, yet still fancy pinning cover to counter Benoit’s sunset flip. No better way to end this clinic of a match than a pinning hold. ****

Riki Choshu & Yuji Nagata vs. Tatsuo Nakano & Yoji Anjo

I love the entrance of Anjo and Nakano for this. Anjo, in true form, comes out with the most arrogant look and body language to him. The UWFI team got booed heavily by the crowd as well. A youthful Yuji Nagata immediately throws hands with Anjo and suplexes him to a big pop. Anjo gets a bit more success against Choshu who is hesitant to engage with the striking, which is fair enough, but Choshu is able to rush Anjo, utalising his amauter wrestling still that hasn't been used for nearly 20 years. Nakano immediately gets exposed on the mat by Choshu who wraps around him with ease. Nagata goes the same, even mounting Nakano and throwing palm strikes before focing a rope break on the armbreaker. Anjo is a s prickly as ever, puffing up Nagata’s eye with nasty knee strikes which Choshu takes offence to. Anjo gets a puffed up eye as well and has further. Poor Nakano though. He gets eaten alive by Choshu and Nagata until the finish where he gets the tap out win on Nagata. That’s it. That’s pretty much all he gets. The match was a great taste of what’s to come, how the styles will come together, how heated everything will be, etc. Choshu clearly has a lot of disdain for the shooting style judging off his attitude to them. Thankfully, in this case, it’s not the “I’m not going to try” kind and more “I’m gonna show these guys what wrestling is” kind. ***1/2

Shiro Koshinaka vs. Kazuo Yamazaki

The match wasn’t that special but it was decent. Koshinaka attacked Yamazaki early, quickly taking him to the outside and throwing Yamazaki into the ring post. Yamazaki tries to snag a leg lock but Koshinaka puts the boots into his stomach. They go back and forth for a bit before Koshinaka starts to work his magic with the nearfalls. Yamazaki had his moments, grabbing a wrist lock on a german suplex for a superb false finish. Koshinaka’s undoing was getting caught on a hip attack and then being german’d three times, getting Yamazaki the win. ***

Keiji Muto vs. Sting

Perhaps the lesser known match of theirs. No IWGP Heavyweight Title up for grabs or any real stakes attached to it and it shows. A fine match but there is nothing much to talk about. The match was done at a solid pace where they exchanged moves and did their signature moves and that’s really it. No real excitement. **1/2

NJPW G1 Climax Special 1995 - Day 9 - 25/09/1995

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Koji Kanemoto (c) vs. Wild Pegasus

This was a bit similar to the Regal match a few days prior in terms of structure and style, only the technical wrestling was less focused and snug and more flashy and quick. The more action part of the match was really good and filled with moves that had the crowd gasping, like Benoit hitting a backsupelx on Kanemoto on the second rope. The closing stretch was basically a series of nearfalls and suplexes - all of which were executed really well. Exciting match. ***1/2

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Keiji Muto (c) vs. Junji Hirata

This was a cool showcase for Hirata, who has been a midcard solider for years for New Japan (and All Japan for a brief while) as Super Strong Machine. Hirata slowly picks Mutoh’s arm, using his size and strength to stay on top of him, which is needed if he was going to win. Mutoh has spells of action but Hirata has the momentum to cut him off. Mutoh is on the form of his career and he performs well in the match in his selling and hope spots. He sells enough and is unselfish in giving Hirata enough for the crowd to buy him as a threat opposed to being the buffer opponent between the G1 and the Tokyo Dome. Mutoh retains, obviously but it was a very good match. ***1/2