NJPW Fighting Spirit 1997 - Day 10 & Day 11 (Kimura/Fujinami vs Muto/Hirata & Otani vs Liger Classic)

Koji Kanemoto & Shinjiro Otani vs. El Samurai & Jushin Thunder Liger - NJPW Fighting Spirit 1997 - Day 10 - 08/02/1997

Now this is the Juniors at their best. Fast paced, intense wrestling. Forget the tedious grappling matches that no one cares about, this is where the division shines. It’s certainly where El Samurai shines. The match begins with an aggressive lock up between Liger and Otani, setting the tone for the match it’ll be before  Liger and Samurai take control. They are solid, fast and mean on top. Liger even taunts Kanemoto in the corner while he works over Otani. Very heelish, but Otani and Kanemoto work with the same tempo. That’s what I like about New Japan in this era. There is no clear dynamic between face and heel. It’s a lot more blurred in the more general cases. Everyone is nasty. It’s just a matter of who is more popular. The match progresses further when Otani, who is all bloody in the nose throws Liger into the crowd and teases hitting his swan dive but it is just a tease. The finish wasn’t balls to the wall but it was able to sustain what they had built on and ended it on a high note, giving Otani the win en route to his title match later in the tour. ***1/2

Manabu Nakanishi & Shinya Hashimoto vs. nWo Japan (Masahiro Chono & Scott Norton) - NJPW Fighting Spirit 1997 - Day 10 - 08/02/1997

This felt a little ponderous at moments. The match went from being character work showcase by Chono to Nakanishi getting some shine, and not making the most of it although he has impressive strength, followed up by a fine finish. Not worth the 13 minutes spent on the file haha. **1/2

IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Kengo Kimura & Tatsumi Fujinami (c) vs. Junji Hirata & Keiji Muto - NJPW Fighting Spirit 1997 - Day 10 - 08/02/1997

I’m enjoying the nostalgia run of Kimura and Fujinami. I like how they stick to their classic style of wrestling, using little smart tricks to stay on top of the younger guys (bear in mind that Hirata was around in their generation as Super Strong Machine. He’s 3 years younger than Fujinami and Kimura). The match had a steady pace but it never stalls and keeps progressing in an entertaining way. Fujinami and Muto have some great exchanges among the more basic, meat and potatoes wrestling. Great exchanges of leg work, both utilising the dragon screw. And Kimura and Hirta are surprisingly given the closing stretch and make great use of it. It was a very fun end to the match. Kimura and Fujinami survive further on. ***1/2

Keiji Muto, Kensuke Sasaki & Satoshi Kojima vs. nWo Japan (Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Masahiro Chono & Scott Norton) - NJPW Fighting Spirit 1997 - Day 11 - 09/02/1997

The match begins with a dueling chant between the Muto and Chono fans, and unsurpisngly Chono wins the exchange as we’re begining to enter the peak of Chono’s popularity. Then Sasaki and Norton have a strength off with Norton winning before comign full circle pinning Kojima and Tenzan together. From there the match becomes more fluid in terms of the wrestling. The match’s big constant was nWo Japan breaking the rules and coming in, ignoring the tags, to halt the other team’s momentum. Muto was able to outwit all three members with his quick use of the dragon screws but the almighty trio of the NWO couldn’t be halted. Norton scores a big victory over Kojima with a powerbomb. A good six man tag. A lot of moving parts which all worked really well together. ***1/2

J-Crown Title #1 Contendership Match: Koji Kanemoto vs. TAKA Michinoku - NJPW Fighting Spirit 1997 - Day 11 - 09/02/1997

It’s a shame that Taka didn’t have many New Japan matches in this era because he’s terrific. Great mix of techincal ability and areial flash. As this is a match with Kanemoto, this is worked like a techincal bout with a lot of leg lock attempts. Kanemoto showed some of his natural heelish characrittics when he stood on Taka’s face but Taka responded by whiping him out with a springboard moonsault into the crowd. The match escalted from there with more Jr highspots being implimented. A lot of counters and big dives being done. Taka’s spots inpressed the crowd the most I feel but Kanemoto did a super job being the more subtler of the two. Kanemoto wins, earning him the title shot for a few days time. Really good outing. ***1/2

J-Crown Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger (c) vs. Shinjiro Otani - NJPW Fighting Spirit 1997 - Day 11 - 09/02/1997

Winner face’s Kanemoto at a future date. It’s almost 30 years later so the result may be an obvious one but let’s pretend nonetheless. Liger and Otani once again start with an aggressive lock up, almost their version of Choshu and Hashimoto’s lock up at the Tokyo Dome. Liger is able to push Otani into the ropes before the break and restart. This transitions into a great technical exchange where Liger begins to work the leg with Otani defending, initially locking on a double wrist lock before Liger escaped. The whole segment was really up my alley except for one instance where Otani broke an americana to tie Liger’s arm in the top rope. It was a convoluted set up and unnecessary as Otani took Liger back to the floor. But once they returned to the mat, they went right back to working holds. The chain wrestling from the cross armbreaker to the omoplata to the modified surfboard was cool. They didn’t rush through a series of holds either, they worked them with serious intent behind them: the intent to submit and defend them and apply a hold themselves. Otani gets nasty at one point, throwing hard palm strikes, which Hittori (the ref) is against. He then snaps Liger’s arm across his shoulder almost as an attempt to break the arm. The match starts to progress further into the high spot style around the 15 minute mark. Liger, usually the master technician in the match, is bested by Otani, forcing him to explore further options like powerbombing Otani on the outside floor. But Otani is game for that as well. He hits one of his own and is able to sustain his early momentum into this part of the match too. Otani lands on his feet on a release german and blasts Liger with a spinning wheel kick. Otani throws bomb after bomb, trying desperately to beat Liger but Liger continues to survive. Nearfalls get closer and closer with the crowd response getting louder and louder. Otani’s momentum seems to run out when Liger lands a thunderous palm strike and multiple brainbusters, for more nearfalls. Otani continues to struggle and fight - and boy does he fight - but finds himself unable to put Liger away. The crowd rallies behind Otani, Kanemoto wills him on from the outside, Otani gains all the confidence in the world before he attempts the dragon suplex but can’t clasp the arms and Liger hits a palm strike, and another and another. Liger hits 9 palm strikes before hitting a running one for number 10 and pins Otani. Amazing finish. I think Otani winning would’ve made this perfect but I think making Otani just one move away works ALMOST just as well. This was sensational. Fantastic grappling which then turned into a Junior Heavyweight classic with amazing storytelling. Otani beat Liger in every way. He had everything behind but but he couldn’t finish the job. Absolutely great performance by Otani. Liger was a strong partner, one would want in this role. Incredible really. ****3/4