NJ Tokon V Special VOL. 52 SUPER GRADE TAG TEAM LEAGUE VIII

Commercial Tape 11/16/96-12/6/98

*all matches are from the tag league*

11/18/98 Kyoto Furitsu Taiikukan

Atsushi Onita made his New Japan debut in a heated angle. Onita came out and started screaming on the mic, calling out retired superstar and current NJ booker Riki Choshu. Shiro Koshinaka tried to attack Onita, but he was restrained. Choshu finally came out, and when Onita handed him a written challenge, Choshu ripped it up and attacked him. This lead to much speculation that Choshu would come out of retirement since he's feeling better physically now that it's been a while since he was in the ring. Luckily, that didn't happen, but the angle set up an equally horrible match between Choshu's protégé Kensuke Sasaki, who was in the ring yelling for Onita to return, and Atsushi Onita on the 1/4/99 Tokyo Dome show.

Keiji Muto & Satoshi Kojima vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi. The NWO team of Muto & Kojima was far more over than the "face" team of Nagata & Nakanishi. Actually, they were so over that the match seemed better than it was. As for the match itself, it was standard, solid but unspectacular, fair for New Japan heavyweights. Kojima was very good here, particularly when he worked with Nagata since they worked pretty stiff. Unfortunately, stiff is one of the best ways to describe Nakanishi, and in this case I'm not referring to how hard I wish he hit people.

Nakanish had Kojima in his Argentine backbreaker five minutes into the match. This looked like a potential finish because Nagata put Muto in his Nagata lock, so Muto wasn't going anywhere. Unfortunately, Nakanishi just let Kojima down when he wouldn't submit. The actual finish saw Nagata make Kojima submit to his Nagata lock II, which is an STF (spinning toe hold facelock) minus the ST portion (although technically, I'd say this should be called a crossface rather than a facelock). 15:15 (8:52 shown). **1/4

Genichiru Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Kazuo Yamazaki. The typical NJ sprint with good, solid work although not a lot of hot moves. The thing that makes the Tenryu & Koshinaka team so good is that between the two of them, they can do all the styles you'd see in NJ heavyweight matches and at least the one whose style they are doing always seems to be motivated. Koshinaka doesn't have much of a move set, but he has the ability and the fire to move you even if his hot sequences mainly have a lot of hip attacks. He is getting older, but since he was finally healthy again this year, we've seen a lot of glimpses of why he may be the most underrated wrestler of the decade. The guy could still carry a broom to a good match if he was up for the task. Tenryu, on the other hand, can really only do stiff matches, but this is one aspect where I wouldn't say Shiro excels in, so that's why they work so well as a team. This was Tenryu's match, which made since because Yamazaki has to work stiff and Sasaki may as well because his offense is pathetic otherwise.

Tenryu was taking all kinds of punishment here to mask the limitations old age has inflicted on him. You can see how old and slow Tenryu is once in a while, when he does a running or jumping move. In this case, he did an enzuigiri that looked particularly pathetic, but most of the match he looked very good because he was playing a role he's capable not only of playing, but excelling in. Since they beat the hell out of him, Sasaki's lariats for instance didn't seem as boring.

That this was the best match on the tape even though Koshinaka didn't play much of a role, for that matter even the finishing sequence he worked was short, definitely says something for Tenryu's willingness to do what it takes to have a good match. The finish saw Sasaki counter Koshinaka's hip attack with an enzui lariat and then use his better half's finisher, the Northern Lights bomb, for the win. 13:38 (8:57 shown). ***1/4

11/22/98 Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Kensuke Sasaki & Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata. This was a good match because Yamazaki and Nagata were doing stiff and crisp UWF style work. It was actually Sasaki that put Nagata "out of action" for a while with a fairly stiff lariat though. The lariats in this match were weird, as Nagata was putting them over like he was dead, but Sasaki would never try to cover him even though they are one of his finishers. Then, toward the end of the match, Nagata no sold a lariat and made a comeback that included a uranage.

The best thing about this match was it was so competitive. I believed Nagata might beat Sasaki with his Nagata lock. While Sasaki didn't submit, he did do a really good job of making it look like he might, and then of putting over the damage this move did to his leg. Well, that is until Nakanishi came in and started working on Sasaki's back to set up his Argentine backbreaker.

At one point, Nagata took out Yamazaki with a high kick and then came up from behind and kicked Sasaki, stopping the no sell Sasaki pulled on Nakanishi. Nagata once again took care of Yamazaki, and Nakanishi hoisted Sasaki up in his Argentine backbreaker for the major upset win.

I thought the match came off well because the fans were really into it, and, instead of the typical teases, Nakanishi actually got the win. Sasaki really put these guys over after the match, not standing up straight as he walked to the dressing room because of his "bad back" hobbling around on his "bad" knee. 19:24 (10:23 shown). ***

11/25/98 Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Keiji Muto & Satoshi Kojima vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & NWO Sting. The last two matches on this tape had Muto, so obviously the tape took a definite turn for the worse. This match just bored me. It had some heat because for some reason there are people that a battle of the NWO is appealing to, but the wrestling was typically uninspiring. Muto did a few things with Tenzan, but it's been years since he worked hard in small buildings, and this was no exception. Sting was unimpressive. It's seems like he's declined some because he used to have his good days and bad days, but lately it seems like I'm always writing Sting sucked. Anyway, Muto made Tenzan submit to his figure 4 and then the NWO members joined together to pose for the cameras. 19:35 (6:27 shown). *1/2

11/29/98

Keiji Muto & Satoshi Kojima vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Tatsumi Fujinami. This match was disappointing because I thought Hashimoto vs. Kojima would at least be good. Instead, no one really made an effort. They hit their moves, but that was about it. The match didn't even have any heat. Muto pinned Fujinami with his huracan rana. 12:21 (7:44 shown). *1/2

NJ 98 G1 Climax

Miko comments

Tadao Yasuda v. Big Titan

Not all that great. Big Titan gets in a ton of offense before Tadao gets

in his Tiger Driver for the win. The match was mostly low impact brawling

and pretty slow paced. Titan kind of goes after Tadao's knee, but he

doesn't have anything that makes you think he might get a submission. One

comment. If you want a test of strength to work, the guy on top should at

least look like he's really putting effort into it. Titan doesn't even

come close most of the time.

Satoshi Kojima v. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

A much better match. Not that much faster paced but better moves and both

men really go after each other, throwing themselves into the moves. The

action went back and forth alot more and both men took their best shots at

each other. I like the spot where Tenzan comes off the top rope and Kojima

catches him with a Diamond Cutter.

Osamu Nishimura v. Shiro Koshinaka

Very weak looking strikes. The trading dropkicks then missles kicks spot

looked weak as well. Shiro misslekicks Nishimura, but somehow gets up

looking around like he can't imagine where Nishimura is, so I guess the

misslekick hurt him more than Nishimura. The end just kinda comes out of

no where, with Koshinaka getting the pin with a powerbomb.

Kensuke Sasaki v. Michiyoshi Ohara

VERY slow paced. Sasaki starts off with a lariat that lays Ohara out and

much of the early part of the match is Ohara recovering from Sasaki's

infrequent but powerful attacks. Ohara finally turns things around by

attacking Sasaki's knee but the pace remains slow. I never could get into

this match.

Shinya Hashimoto v. Tatsutoshi Goto

Not great. Goto never looks like he might win and is pretty limited. Hash

is stiff, which is always fun to watch.

Tatsumi Fujinami v. Kazuo Yamazaki

Now this is more what I watch G1 Climax for. They start very active.

Yamazaki is a good kicker but Fujinami is ready for it and two dragon

screws put Yamazaki in a world of hurt. This was sold well, Yamazaki

nearly making his way to his feet before he collapses back to the mat

holding his knee. Fujinami really goes after the leg, and his offense is

alot better for this than Ohara's was. Fujinami finally got back to his

feet, in the corner for support. Fujinami tries to dive for the leg again

but Yamazaki is ready for that and nails him with a kick. The action is

deliberate, Yamazaki sells the knee alot, so even when he's attacking with

kicks he never really busts loose because the kicks are hurting him as much

as Fujinami. Both men use long sleeper segments. Not a great match, but I

was more into this than the previous couple of matches.

Masahiro Chono v. Manabu Nakanishi

A longer slugfest. Nakanishi really goes after Chono, attacking powerfully

and at times threatening to overwhelm Chono. Chono counters sometimes by

using Nakanishi's overaggression against him, which I thought were the most

effective counter spots. Being Chono, sometimes for no reason he decides

to make combacks out of the blue, which is not as impressive. The match

goes one like this for some time, Nakanishi really pulling out all the

stops while attacking Chono, catching him with coutnless lariats and even

the Torture Rack three times! Watching this match made me think, any guys

facing Lugar should bring over Chono to train them, since he remembers if

you are in the Toture Rack you can still punch, eye rake and knee to the

head, something the guys in the WCW keep forgetting.;^) Nakanishi survives

nearly everything Chono can throw at him before finally getting caught in

Chono's reverse full nelson. I'm sure they were trying to get over the

idea Nakanishi might pull off the upset and they did a pretty good job of

that.

Keiji Muto v. Genichiro Tenryu

The main event of the first round. This match started off slow, both men

wary and feeling each other out. But after a few minutes it started to

break down, first Tenryu cutting loose with those stiff chops, then after a

Tenryu elbow drop to the knee Muto got fired up and came back with punches.

I liked Muto's plancha over the ropes. He let the referee push him back

to the middle of the ring, like he was going to let Tenryu back in, then as

soon as Tenryu stands he rushes over and slingshots himself over the top

rope. Even better was Tenryu going up to the second rope like he was going

to dive onto Muto. Muto cut him off and after exchanging punches did an

Ace Crusher to the floor. Very cool.

I like Muto's dropkick to the knee. He actually gets a little height on

it and kicks down. Tenryu's knee gets worked over in a major way and Muto

gets in alot of offense, since he's the one jobbing. But Tenryu gets his

moves in and they trade kicks and stiff chops quite a bit. Tenryu finally

pulls off the win with a powerbomb, but Muto's in the process of kicking

out at the three count and it's very close. there is a delay calling for

the bell, which just adds to the 'was it really a pin?'.

Tadao Yasuda v. Satoshi Kojima

Not as bad as I expected. Yasuda is very limited and much bigger than

Kojima, but Kojima has a huge edge in charisma and athelticism. The story

of this match was Yasuda overpowering Kojima, which was sold well, and

Kojima constantly fighting back against the much bigger man. Kojima took

just about everything Yasuda could throw at him, including a Tiger Driver,

but he would not stay down. For me Kojima made this match work. He sold

Yasuda's offense well, showed fighting spirit, and generally mde the match

better than I thought it would be.

Kensuke Sasaki v. Kazuo Yamazaki

A really hot start to the match. Yamazaki attacks before the match starts,

kicking Sasaki's leg, then trying to dive on the leg and take him down.

Sasaki keeps pounding on Yamazaki and his knee that got wrecked last round

looks ok until Yamazaki catches it for a dragon screw. Yamazaki's whole

strategy in the match is going after Sasaki's knee. He kicks it

constantly, while Sasaki keeps firing back and at one point get the Power

Strangle, but his knee is too weak to support it for long enough to get a

submission.

I liked the final sequence. Sasaki charges at Yamazaki, right into a kick

to the knee, followed by a dragon screw and the last kneelock, which Sasaki

sold pretty well to build up the drama before giving in.

Shiro Koshinaka v. Masahiro Chono

Serious heat between these two, obviously. Chono keeps working on the neck

to get the submission again while Koshinaka busts loose for his hip attacks

and nails a couple of powerbombs. I've never seen a match where Koshinaka

beat Chono, so I'll be amazed the first time I see one. No surprise in

this match though, Chono works the reverse full nelson and finally forces

the submission.

Hashimoto v. Tenryu

A classic Hash-Tenryu stiff-fest. Tenryu shows the world's slowest

enzuigiri more than once. Good heat and the stiff chops looked painful,

but sometimes the few wrestling moves were not worked in smoothly. Seems

kinda weird to see someone actually win with just a plain DDT.:^)

Masahiro Chono v. Kazuo Yamazaki

I liked how Chono got the sneak attack in, waiting until he was announced,

then walking to the middle of the ring as if he was just going to raise his

hands, then attacking. Chono was very aggressive here, going for all his

low blow spots as well as brawling and working submissions. Yamazaki

looked good with his kicks and submissions. Even though I knew who won the

match, when Chono got Yamazaki in that reverse full nelson I was ready to

believe the match was over. I liked the spot where Chono went for his mule

kick and Yamazaki dodges it and turned it into a STF on Chono. The ending

worked for me, Yamazaki getting a reverse achilles tendon hold and he

really seemed to be putting everything into the hold, his feet driving his

shoulder into the hold. He was so single minded on the hold, that it was

several seconds before he realized he had won.

Shinya Hashimoto v. Satoshi Kojima

Some interesting moments here. Kojima is not nearly as tough as Tenryu in

taking Hash's heavy strikes. There was alot more wrestling in this and

Kojima usually made it look good. I noticed Hash forgot to sell a Kojima

Cutter and turned to wrong way so it turned into a neckbreaker. The crowd

was into it and counted along with the ref after Kojima hit his lariat.

Hash starts working over Kojima's lariat arm, while Kojima goes after

Hash's knee briefly. After the hizagatame and figurefour leg lock, Kojima

seems to forget this, while Hash keeps going back to Kojima's arm. Once

Kojima quits working on Hash's leg he slowly seems to get better, while

Kojima's arm gets worse since Hash goes after it more. It's kinda fun

after the match when the camera looks into the crowd and focuses on the

skinny guy dressed like Hashimoto.

Shinya Hashimoto v. Kazuo Yamazaki

Another exiting match. Yamazaki doesn't have Kojima's charisma, but he

comes across as a good tough guy. Both are good strikers, though Hash is

bigger and seems to hit harder. Yamazaki picks up where Kojima left off,

except he viciously attacks the knee and he has the submissions to back up

the attack. When Yamazaki hits the same leglock he used to beat Chono it

looks like it could be over but Hash toughs it out. Hashimoto sells the

knee well but keeps finding ways to fight back. I got into this match.

Hashimoto is alot of fun to watch and Yamazaki looks so dangerous and has

that shooter image so his submissions were dangerous. Hashimoto plays the

underdog so wel, then rattles off those vicious DDT's.

NJ TV 5/15/99

Miko comments

Tenzan & Kojima v. Chono & AKIRA

Haven't seen AKIRA before but I like the other three wrestlers. Good

action and Chono tries to bring Kojima and Tenzan back into the fold after

the match, and Kojima seems to accept, then hits him with a Kojima Cutter,

then Tenzan with the diving headbutt. So evidently the answer was no.;^)

Kanemoto v. Takaiwa (IWGP Jr.)

Takaiwa cuts loose with his whole range of powerbombs, DVD's and lariats.

Which is just about his whole range.:^) Some fast comebacks and nice

moves, though the ending by Boston Crab surprised me a little.

Muto v. Tenryu (IWGP Heavyweight)

You kinda get the impression this is going to be a long match with how

slowly they start out. Gotta love Muto's 'I'll Win' tights. The early

protion is Muto mostly selling as Tenryu chops, jabs and now and then hits

a move on him. Finally Muto goes to the knees and gets the edge on Tenryu.

Tenryu hits the hardest powerbomb I've seen from him and follows up later

with his WAR Special. I got into this match alot. Slower paced but stiff

at times and good selling. Muto keeps going back to the knee to cut off

Tenryu's coembacks. Tenryu hits a top rope Frankensteiner, woo! Muto

slams Tenryu down a little over halfway across the ring and hits a kinda

moonsault double knee for the win. A very good match.