What Good is Dreamin if Shinya Hashimoto Must Dream All Alone By Himself

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Jake Roberts NJPW 9/23/93 - GREAT

ER: I thought the Rude match was kind of weird, as he went over to Japan and Hash worked almost a WWF style match with him. But I didn't know what weird was until I watched this. Roberts is one of the biggest names in wrestling to rarely work Japan, somehow working Japan even less than Lawler. I believe this is the lone match from Jake's lone New Japan tour that made tape, and it's great and weird. It's basically Roberts coming to Japan and working a match the same way he would work a Tito Santana match. You know, cruising to Japan for a week, working with the 2nd or 3rd biggest name in the company, but still working the Tito formula. It's weird and it works. He plays Jake mind games with Hash, and it's weird just because he's opposite this burly asskicker and he does things like point to his head to show how smart he is after blocking an Irish whip. 

This hits peak surreal when Jake's knee buckles on a leapfrog, and he begs off in the corner while holding his knee, even asking for a time out. I'm willing to bet this was the first time a New Japan crowd had seen someone ask for a time out in many years. And of course it's all so he can jump Hash, hit the short arm lariat and the DDT. After the DDT he even does jumping jacks and a squat to show that the knee is doing alright. The crowd reacted when Hash kicked out of the DDT, but it sounded more like confusion that elation. Hash didn't even really get to ramp up to his comeback too much, as you assume Jake isn't going to take a super dangerous brainbuster bump or anything, but Hash wins with the big spinning heel kick. Post match things get ridiculous as Jake dumps an actual cobra out of a bag and lunges at Hashimoto with it, like Berzerker stabbing his sword into the mat trying to murder Undertaker, Jake flies cobra first into the mat trying to kill Hashimoto!! Then he fakes throwing the snake into the crowd, the way you would a t-shirt when there is a competition to see which side of the ring has the loudest fans. He actually pretends to throw a cobra, then just lets it slither out to the floor while the commentary crew freaks out. I'm really glad this match happened.

PAS: It is famously hard to score in Japan, but Jake looks like he found a way. This is fully in the period where Jake looked like the heroin addict you go to if you need to have a body disappear, which is also exactly how he wrestles. I loved Jake breaking out the fake knee injury in Sumo Hall like he was working a no bumps match against Tom Brandi at the Sheboygan American Legion. All of Jake's offense looked good, he has a great jab and the short clothesline is the best short clothesline in the history of New Japan. That albino cobra is fucking nuts, I assume that was just the pet of whatever exiled Yakuza he horse hunted from this morning, "Let me get some of that snow white, and let me borrow the snake for tonight."


COMPLETE AND ACCURATE HASHIMOTO