New Footage Friday: HASH~! VADER~! DR. DEATH~! KOKINA~! KURISU~! CHONO~! MUTOH~!

New Japan HH 7/8/90

Black Cat vs. Takayuki Tizuka

MD: Iizuka is Takashi Iizuka, in his mid 20s here. This was a nice opener, with Cat leaning on him with holds and clever little whacks to keep control (an elbow out of a straightjacket choke, an elbow drop to reverse a drop down, a senton near fall towards the end, swatting away some dropkicks) with Iizuka fiery and aggressive. I loved the way he stalked around the ring when Iizuka was trying to get back in, for instance, and how he went right to the attack the moment that he did. Cat played to the crowd a couple of times and they were appreciative and up for it which bodes well for the rest of the show. Good finishing stretch with a couple of near-falls you could predict as spots (like the sunset flip reversal to the second shoulder charge into the corner) but couldn't predict the kick-out 100% as it was an opener and it takes less to end it. There's a certain freedom in opening up a show and they took advantage of it well.

Osamu Matsuda vs. Kantaro Hoshino 

MD: Matsuda is a year away from being El Samurai. He was spry and energetic here but I don't think this quite had the rhythm as the opener. In fact, it felt a little more what I thought an opener would feel like, with longer holds moved in and out of, without entirely coming together as a greater whole. Hoshino vs Momota in 89-90 would be an interpromotional match I would have liked to see. I liked all of his neck crunching offense and his power bomb to finish it was pretty nasty.

 

Osamu Kido vs. Apollo Sugawara 

MD: Solid match up. The brunt of it was Sugawara working over Kido's legs and then Kido returning the favor. A little extended selling, especially from Kido, might have given it all a bit more weight and stakes and made the revenge mean something more. The finish sort of came out of nowhere, but that was the joy of Kido's wakigatame.

Strong Machine/Pegasus Kid vs. Hiro Hase/Kensuke Sasaki 

MD: Very much what you'd want this match-up to be. They hit hard, leaned into things, kept it moving. Visually, Pegasus Kid and Super Strong Machine made a good pairing, at least given the HH quality. They looked almost like blue and purple variations on the same theme. Hase and Sasaki worked well together early but got a little too cute trying to get masks off. That led to a hearty beatdown on Hase, until he was able to roll through or power away on a brainbuster (it was a little hard to tell but I didn't love it as a transition regardless). After that, it was more back and forth with some nice parallels towards the end with partners breaking up bridges by kicking the legs out and a nice, definitive finish.

Jushin Liger/Shiro Koshinaka/Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Tatsutoshi Gotoh/Hiro Saito/Norio Honaga 

MD: This was a pretty satisfying example of delayed gratification with a trio of gritty bastard bases holding down your flying, technical guys. They cut off the ring well and were relentless in the beatdown and when comebacks started, they were quick to cut them off with cheapshots, low blows, and interference, so that when the butt butts, babyface doubleteams, and Liger's big stuff got to finally happen, it felt like a big payoff.

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Brad Rheingans - FUN

PAS: This was pretty short, but any Hashimoto match is going to have cool stuff in it. My favorite section was the first minute with Rhiengans and Hash locked up in a Greco clinch and doing some standing switches. Both guys have such strong bases and I enjoyed the struggle. Hash hits some nice body kicks and DDT to win, but I never got much of a sense of Brad outside of that first section. 

MD: You always wish these Brad in Japan matches went a little bit longer. This had some good close up grappling for position and some really nice suplexes though. Brad stooged just a little, in as he sold broadly for Hashimoto when he did get shots in, but he made him earn those shots too. Obviously the best part of this was when Brad jammed him off the ropes and hit a big belly to belly and then a belly to back. It ended abruptly, but believably so.

Masa Saito/Kengo Kimura vs. Steve Williams/Masanobu Kurisu 

MD: Kimura refusing to spend even a second on the floor with Kurisu at the start was the most sympathetic bit of wrestling I've seen in a while. Thankfully, Kurisu got to show everyone exactly why Kimura felt that way later in the match by being an absolute maniac with a chair. Saito vs Williams was a larger than life pairing. It had Williams wild energy and Saito's heft and presence but they still let it breathe. This was going at a real good pace with everyone bringing exactly what you'd want out of them (Saito firing back with a chair and clotheslines, Williams with the stampede, Kurisu's headbutts, etc.) until Kimura got in a flying kick out of nowhere onto Kurisu's skull and Saito came in with his suplex for the win. Like the Brad match, I wish it had another couple of minutes but this was a more complete and satisfying unit and you can't fault what we got.

PAS: You have to give it to Kurisu. I mean if there is anyone he might not pull his shit on, it's Masa Saito, an olympic wrestler who is crazy enough to fist fight 10 cops. Kurisu doesn't give a shit though, he is out there throwing those gross headbutts to Saito's cheek and those chair shots with the edges. He pays for it a bit, it looks like he gets a stinger when Saito and Kimura hit a pretty unsafe looking spiked piledriver, and Saito hits him with a great looking version of his titular suplex. Williams and Saito are always a fun match up too, and I love the idea of a Williams/Kurisu tag team. That is a Miracle Violence Connection I can get behind. 

Riki Choshu/Keiji Mutoh/Masa Chono vs. Van Vader/Kokina/Samu

MD: Kokina and Vader were such an imposing pair and it was obvious they knew it, with double charges in the corner and teamwork on the outside. Vader used himself as a wall with his short clothesline and Kokina was happy to use him that way too. Every bump Vader took meant something and was earned. Kokina's meant something too, though he maybe took too many and too big, though that was part of the attraction. Samu was there to lose the offensive for his team and ultimately lose the match. Choshu got to clothesline people. Mutoh brought the flash. Young Chono was in there the most though, holding his own at first but ultimately playing a face in peril.