THE MOSS COVERED THREE HANDLED FAMILY CREDENZA

ARTICLE #54
SEPTEMBER 30, 2002

New Japan 2001: Fantastic Finals

Many would argue that New Japan's notable tournaments in 2001 were all very good, or at least exceeded expectations in the ring. I can't back this up since I haven't seen enough of these tournaments, but I can now conclude that the finals of their 4 biggest tournaments of 2001 delivered, and then some. In fact, this might have been the best year for tournament finals for any group in many years, with four different finals all exceeding the "excellent" plateau.

1/4/01 IWGP Title Tournament Final: Toshiaki Kawada vs Kensuke Sasaki

Kawada scored with a jumping kick at the bell and also an enzuguiri. Kawada back suplexed Sasaki for an early near fall. Kawada stomped Sasaki repeatedly and kicked his head. Kawada landed some knees to Sasaki's head but Sasaki countered a powerbomb with a backdrop. Sasaki slapped Kawada but Kawada responded with a jumping kick for a near fall. Kawada gave Sasaki kind of a light ax kick and then more stiff roundhouse kicks. Sasaki blocked a roundhouse kick and shoved Kawada down. Sasaki gave Kawada a lariat, Kawada responded with a high kick, Sasaki gave Kawada another lariat, Kawada high kicked Sasaki again, and Sasaki finally floored Kawada with a third lariat for a one count. Sasaki delivered a couple roundhouse kicks and a stiff short lariat. He powerbombed Kawada for a near fall. Kawada countered a German suplex attempt with a bunch of elbows and then a drop-down kick. Kawada kicked Sasaki but Sasaki caught him in a powerslam. Sasaki went for a northern lights bomb but Kawada backed into the ropes. Sasaki gave Kawada a kneelift and some hard slaps but Kawada fought back with a released German suplex and a lariat. They traded really brutal slaps, and Sasaki dared Kawada to keep hitting him. Kawada slammed Sasaki and punted his back three times. Kawada delivered a roundhouse kick to Sasaki's back, one to his head and a couple kneedrops for a near fall. Kawada applied a stretch plum as heat mounted after a brief quiet period. Kawada rubbed his elbow into Sasaki's face while maintaining the stretch plum. Kawada then gained a near fall. Sasaki blocked a powerbomb attempt but Kawada gave him some knees to the head. Kawada powerbombed Sasaki after a struggle for a near fall. Kawada landed a bunch of roundhouse kicks but Sasaki blocked a powerbomb. Kawada gave Sasaki a knee to the head but Sasaki countered a powerbomb with a spinebuster of sorts. Sasaki then applied a Boston crab amidst very good heat (more than you'd expect). Kawada reached the ropes but appeared to be bleeding from the nose or mouth. Kawada countered a northern lights bomb attempt with a jumping kick. Both men hit simultaneous lariats with Sasaki having slightly more momentum. Sasaki went for a German suplex but Kawada grabbed the ropes to block it. Sasaki hit an enzu-lariat and gave Kawada a great released German suplex. Sasaki then gave Kawada a lariat for a dramatic near fall. Sasaki gave Kawada a northern lights bomb and pinned him at 10:41 to win the title. Fans popped huge at the finish. If you're into dramatic, stiff matches in which both men just throw bombs at each other for most of the time, this is a must-see match. Sasaki looked much sharper here than he did at their previous match on 10/9/00, and because of the length this time Kawada didn't have to carry him at all. Sasaki mainly threw lariats and hard slaps, mixing in a German suplex or northern lights bomb on occasion to keep things fresh. But Kawada allowed Sasaki to work to his strengths yet within his limitations, and thus Sasaki turned in one of his sharpest efforts. Of course, however, Kawada was the better worker of the match, matching Sasaki's strikes for stiffness if not surpassing him (although to Sasaki's credit his blows were stiffer here than 10/9/00), and tossing in his dramatic array of kicks. Great use of near falls, using enough to make the match great but not too many so as to dilute their effect. I also like how they used a couple near falls very early on, showing the fans that, partially because this was a tournament final and both had already fought, this match could end at any time. Kawada took the time to slow things down a bit towards the middle, including using his stretch plum to give the match a sense of structure, particularly as a stand-alone match. As a stand-alone match, this was a near perfect 10-minute effort and an outstanding match overall. But when you consider the context of the match, namely it being a one-night tournament final (and it was a damn good tournament) and that both had wrestled a substantial period of time previously (including Kawada vs Tenzan which was nearly as great as this), and you have a match that borders on being a classic. I think the match could have been better had they add near falls or submissions based around Kawada's powerbomb and Sasaki's triangle choke (or some submission hold I know he has), or perhaps have Kawada kick out of the northern lights bomb and have Sasaki do a second for the pin. However, if their main objectives were to beat the crap out of each other and produce a memorable finish, they more than succeeded. ****1/2

6/4/01 New Japan 2001 Best of Super Junior Tournament Final: Jushin Liger vs Minoru Tanaka

Liger applied a waistlock, and Tanaka countered. Liger took down Tanaka with a headscissors but Tanaka escaped. They traded leglocks on the mat. Liger took Tanaka down and worked on his leg but Tanaka countered. Liger crossed Tanaka's legs and bent them back. Liger grabbed Tanaka's arms in a surfboard but then used a camel clutch. Liger stretched Tanaka's right arm and maneuvered him into a pin position for a near fall. Tanaka took Liger down and went after his arm, but then spun around and applied a leglock. Liger countered and locked Tanaka's legs in a modified figure 4 position, then bent his arm back in a hammerlock at the same time. Tanaka countered by grabbing Liger's leg and mounted him. Liger blocked some strikes before they stood up. Liger snapmared Tanaka and applied a chinlock. Liger applied an abdominal stretch on the mat and also pulled on Tanaka's neck as well. Liger applied a headlock. They did a criss cross. Liger caught Tanaka's leg going for a kick and went for a shoda but Tanaka grabbed his arm and applied a cross armbreaker in a really cool sequence. Liger reached the ropes as he sold the move flawlessly, both the pain and the shock. Tanaka stomped Liger's arm, snapmared him and punted his back repeatedly. Tanaka shoved Liger out of the ring displaying some heelish charisma. Tanaka attacked Liger's arm and applied a Fujiwara armbar, which drew little heat since it was clearly a wear-down or set-up hold. Tanaka then applied a (crippler) crossface on Liger before going back to the armbar. Liger dropkicked Tanaka's legs twice and applied a figure 4 leglock. Tanaka turned the leglock around but Liger rolled back over and pulled Tanaka away from the ropes. Tanaka finally reached the ropes after a struggle and rolled out of the ring. Tanaka attacked Liger's leg in the corner but then stood on his arm. Tanaka stomped Liger. Liger whipped Tanaka into the corner but ran into a boot and Tanaka hit a top rope dropkick. Tanaka suplexed Liger and kneedropped his arm. Tanaka gave Liger a couple kicks and applied a rear armbar/headscissors combo. Liger reached the ropes. Tanaka chopped Liger twice but Liger fought back with a shoda. Liger whipped Tanaka into the corner and knocked him silly with a shoda but sold his own arm injury in the process. Liger powerbombed Tanaka for a near fall as heat picked up. Liger hit a frog splash for a near fall but ran into a superkick. Tanaka went for a pin but then switched lightning-quick into a cross armbreaker on Liger. Liger reached the ropes to escape after a couple failed counters. Liger caught Tanaka on the top rope with a shoda but Tanaka blocked a superplex attempt and elbowed Liger. Liger jumped back up but Tanaka gave him headbutts. Liger tried again but Tanaka punched him, then hit a top rope missile dropkick. Liger countered a dragon suplex and scored with a couple shodas. Liger missed a third shoda and Tanaka caught him with a sloppy backslide, turned into a rollup for a near fall. Sloppy, but it worked okay. Tanaka gave Liger a spinning mule kick. Both men countered German suplex attempts by the other. Tanaka superkicked Liger and did a great roll-through into a cross armbreaker (any name for this? I'm uneducated.)amidst great heat. Liger reached the ropes after another struggle. Tanaka landed a couple roundhouse kicks but Liger caught his leg on a third and gave him a dragon screw. Liger scored with a koppo kick for a near fall and a Liger bomb for a heated near fall. Liger missed a shoda and Tanaka surprised him with a shoda of his own. Liger then hit Tanaka with a shoda for a near fall. Liger gave Tanaka a brainbuster for a heated near fall. Tanaka countered a second brainbuster, Liger blocked a Fujiwara armbar but in the blink of an eye Tanaka countered into a cross armbreaker on Liger. Liger reached the ropes again. Tanaka kicked Liger's arm and did a Sayama-caliber roll-through into an anklebar on Liger. Liger reached the ropes after another dramatic struggle. Liger surprised Tanaka with a shoda. Tanaka went for a kick but Liger grabbed his leg, cradled him and gave him a fisherman buster. Liger then gave Tanaka a brainbuster and pinned him at 26:12 to win the tournament. This match epitomized the term "dramatic struggle". Tanaka and especially Liger put on a textbook clinic on how to use holds, namely leglocks and armbars effectively and how to sell them in such a way as to hook just about any audience. Much of the match was built around such holds, but the holds worked to perfection because they found dramatic and/or creative (especially Tanaka) ways to apply them. Many of the holds were put on Liger, who might have done some of the best selling of his career. Liger masterfully sold not just the damage of the holds, as well as his frustration, but also the element of surprise in being caught off guard since Tanaka found so many angles from which to apply his holds. A match like this needs standard wrestling spots to maintain a perfect flow, and they incorporated just enough of them to make the match flow well without sacrificing the focus of the match. The last 10 minutes were filled with great near falls, psychology and selling, including Liger's dramatic struggles (there's the term again) to escape the cross armbreakers and anklebar. Tanaka was really great in that not only did he do his usual impressive array of maneuverings into holds, but also gave Liger a taste of his own medicine using a shoda late. Of course Liger then came right back with a shoda of his own to show how it's done. But Liger was on the ropes for much of the close, before finally reversing the momentum with his shoda. Whether or not you like this match depends on how much or a purist you are. If you dig a slow(ish) build, with lots of holds, some highspots but no risky flying, and great selling as the focal point then you'll enjoy this. I can't say I really enjoyed this, though. I'm a much bigger fan of the 90s juniors product, which incorporated much more flying and highspots in general. Aside from Tanaka's innovative counters and transitions, this had an old-school feel, especially since it was a juniors match. Despite much of the action being less than spectacular, Liger and Tanaka's work was just too flawless and dramatic for what they did for this match not to get a very high rating. Albeit with an entirely new flavor, this match kinda signified the revival of the New Japan juniors product, which had been on a decline for the past couple years (and especially over the past year). ****1/4

8/10/01 New Japan 2001 G-1 Climax Tournament Final: Keiji Muto vs Yuji Nagata

Fans were electric at the start. Nagata went for a kick, Muto tried to grab his leg but Nagata pulled away. Nagata took Muto down but Muto escaped his grip. Muto took down Nagata and went after his leg but Nagata countered by going after Muto's arm. Muto applied a legbar. Nagata countered but ended up on his back. Muto backed him down but then they both stood up. Nagata took Muto down and mounted his back. Nagata applied a chinlock on Muto but then went back to the mount. Nagata went after Muto's arm but Muto countered with an armlock of his own. Muto hooked Nagata's arm with his own arm and legs. Nagata countered with a leglock but Muto countered by attempting a cross armbreaker. Nagata reached the ropes before Muto could apply the hold. Muto caught Nagata's leg attempting a kick and took him down to the mat. Nagata applied a rear choke/sleeper as he had Muto in a bodyscissors but Muto reached the ropes. Muto rolled out of the ring. Nagata applied a front facelock but Muto countered and gave Nagata a mule kick. Muto snapmared Nagata and gave him a power elbow. Muto took Nagata down and applied an elbowlock. Muto applied a headscissors but Nagata countered and got on top of Muto. Nagata scored with several knees to Muto's head and went for a cross armbreaker but Muto escaped his grip. Muto chopped and shoulderblocked Nagata in the corner. Muto went for a handspring elbow but Nagata caught him in a waistlock and applied a crossface for a lengthy period of time before Muto reached the ropes. Nagata gave Muto some roundhouse kicks to his leg but Muto caught Nagata's leg attempting a kick and gave him a dragon screw. Nagata countered a figure 4 attempt and applied an armbar/headscissors from his back. Muto reached the ropes but Nagata landed a kick. Muto caught Nagata's leg again but Nagata blocked a dragon screw. Nagata kicked Muto's leg but Muto responded with a dropkick to Nagata's right knee. Muto dropkicked Nagata's knee two more times as heat mounted and gave Nagata a dragon screw. Muto applied a figure 4 leglock and Nagata was unable to counter. Nagata finally reached the ropes. Muto gave Nagata a second rope dropkick to his knee and a dragon screw into another figure 4 leglock. Heat mounted as Nagata reached the ropes. Muto kicked Nagata's knee again and gave him another dragon screw. Nagata countered a figure 4 and applied an anklebar in a neat sequence amidst strong heat. Muto tried to reach the ropes but Nagata pulled him back to the middle of the ring. Muto finally reached the ropes seconds later. Nagata delivered three roundhouse kicks to Muto's leg. Muto caught Nagata off the ropes with a huracanrana and went for a cross armbreaker but Nagata seamlessly countered into his inverted figure 4 leglock in a great sequence as fan heat picked up again. Muto reached the ropes to break the hold. Nagata missed a spin kick in the corner and hit his left knee on the corner pad. Muto gave Nagata a top rope frankensteiner for a heated near fall. Muto gave Nagata a backbreaker and a moonsault for a super near fall and then applied a cross armbreaker. Nagata reached the ropes and sold the damage well. Muto missed a kick in the corner and Nagata gave Muto a great released German suplex that folded him up and dropped him on his head. Nagata gave Muto a wrist clutch exploder (I think) but Muto came back with a shining wizard. Muto gave Nagata a koppo kick but Nagata responded with a spin kick. Muto then gave Nagata a backflip dropkick. Nagata blocked a shining wizard and applied a crossface for the submission win at 22:04. Fans popped huge for the finish and the G-1 Climax created another star. Muto's memorable comeback of the year performance of 2001 continued with another strong performance, although perhaps not quite as great as his effort against Tenryu two months earlier. But he had a better opponent to work with here, one of the best workers in wrestling in Nagata. Like Tanaka, Nagata's matwork and counters were really fun to watch. Nagata's kicks were also sharp. Muto's offense had emphasized simplicity and an old-school flavor since his knees had been shot over the past couple years, and his style blended really well with Nagata, with his holds and kicks. Definitely a match whose quality crept up on me slowly- slower than the TOSJ final, and only registered over the last minute or two. They took their time, easing into the match and doing enough to tell a story while never being lazy. They didn't even have a near fall until around the 19:00 mark, but by then they had built the match so well fans popped huge for it thinking it might be the finish. The G-1 Climax has emerged with a tradition of creating new stars, making careers of the likes of Masa Chono, Kensuke Sasaki, and Manabu Nakanishi. This time it was Nagata who became the top star, beating the All Japan Triple Crown champ. Ten years after Muto put over Chono in the first G-1 Climax final, he put over Nagata as the next major star in memorable fashion. ****1/4

12/11/01 New Japan 2001 G-1 Tag Team Tournament Final: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs Jim Steele & Mike Barton

Tenzan pounded Steele early and applied a headlock. Tenzan was unable to knock down Steele but gave him some Mongolian chops. Tenzan missed a lariat and Steele gave him a shoulderblock. Steele elbowed and kicked Tenzan in the corner. He whipped Tenzan into the opposite corner but ran into a boot. Tenzan came off the second rope with a chop. Steele whipped Tenzan into the corner but missed a corner splash and sailed over the top rope to the floor. Tenzan kicked and headbutted Steele on the apron. Tenzan tried to suplex Steele back into the ring but Steele countered. Tenzan finally suplexed Steele back into the ring after a lengthy struggle. Barton kicked and pounded Tenzan, then worked on his left arm. Tenzan landed a couple punches on Barton. Kojima kicked and chopped Barton repeatedly but Barton responded with chops of his own. Barton tackled Kojima but Kojima hiptossed him and gave him a somersault splash. Kojima stomped Barton and rammed him into the corner. Kojima gave Barton a running lariat in the corner. Tenzan kicked Barton and raked his face but Barton went after his arm again. Steele elbowed Tenzan and gained an early near fall. Steele rammed Tenzan's head into Barton's boot on the apron. Barton chopped Tenzan twice but Tenzan responded with Mongolian chops. Tenzan slammed Barton. He and Kojima gave Barton a headbutt/elbowsmash combo for a near fall. Tenzan accidentally gave Kojima a lariat when Barton ducked. Steele gave Kojima a kneedrive and a Russian legsweep for a near fall. Steele snapmared Kojima and gave him a necksnap, then knocked Tenzan off the apron. Steele gained a near fall on Kojima. Barton slammed Kojima three times and gave him some elbowsmashes for a near fall. Barton pounded Kojima and chopped him but Kojima fought back with chops of his own. Barton then gave Kojima some elbows but Kojima countered a suplex/brainbuster and back suplexed Barton. Tenzan tagged in, gave Barton a lariat and knocked Steele off the apron. Tenzan gave Barton two Mongolian chops and a corner splash. He kicked Barton in the corner and gave him a top rope kneedrive for a near fall. Tenzan landed more Mongolian chops but Barton fought back with a side slam for a near fall. Barton knocked Kojima off the apron and hit a plancha on Tenzan! Steele rammed Kojima into the barricade. Back in the ring Steele gained a near fall on Tenzan and applied a chinlock. Steele then bent Tenzan's arm back while maintaining the chinlock but Kojima intervened. Barton and Steele rammed Tenzan repeatedly into the corner. Barton chopped Tenzan twice but Tenzan fought back with a Mongolian chop. Barton elbowed and punched Tenzan, then gave him a vertical suplex for a near fall. Tenzan surprised Steele with a sunset flip for a near fall. Steele whipped Tenzan into the corner and gave him three lariats in the corner. Steele gave Tenzan a couple cool spike DDTs. Tenzan tried to block a third but Steele DDTd him again for a near fall. Steele knocked Kojima off the apron and gave Tenzan a tilt-a-whirl into a powerslam for a heated near fall. Steele went for a doctor bomb or something similar but elbowed Kojima when he came in. Steele then gave Tenzan a spinning doctor bomb for a great near fall. Barton gave Kojima a lariat in the corner and applied a sleeper on him. Steele lifted Tenzan into an Argentine backbreaker but Kojima intervened and gave Steele a Kojima cutter (I think that's what it's called) for a pop. Tenzan caught Steele and gave him a fireman's carry slam. Kojima attacked both opponents with elbows and dropkicked Steele. Kojima chopped Steele and gave him an elbow in the corner. Kojima gave Steele a top rope elbow for a near fall. Steele and Kojima traded blows, and Steele won the exchange. Kojima atomic dropped Steele and gave him a dragon screw. Kojima whipped Steele into the corner but ran into a boot and Steele gave him a top rope shoulderblock. Steele slammed Kojima and he and Barton hit top rope splashes for a dramatic Barton near fall. Barton powerbombed Kojima for a very heated near fall. Barton ran into a lariat from Kojima and Kojima tagged Tenzan. Tenzan and Steele attempted simultaneous lariats with neither man budging. Tenzan spin kicked Steele for a near fall. Barton attacked Tenzan but Kojima intervened. Tenzan and Kojima gave Barton the T2D (TenKoji Death Drop; I made this one up perhaps). Kojima gave Steele an enzu-lariat and Tenzan followed with a Tenzan driver for a dramatic near fall. Tenzan then moonsaulted Steele and pinned him at 24:06 to win the tournament. Well, there's no doubt this match exceeded just about everyone's wildest expectations. But it didn't hit me upside the head like most shockingly great matches do. Instead, this was one of those matches where its greatness kinda crept up on me. I haven't seen much of Barton and Steele as a team, but have seen enough to know they're pretty bland most of the time with dull offense. When they would go on offense early, I expected a big drop in the excitement/intensity/fan heat, but it never happened. For the most part, Barton and Steele kept within their movesets (except for Barton's plancha) and limitations, but were more fired up then usual and their offense had a freshness about it that is usually missing. Make no mistake, though, this was the TenKoji show, with the best quality tag team act in wrestling displaying their talent as a team better than ever, leading two dull opponents through a long match that never was dull. They were cruising along having a solid/good match until the last ten or so minutes, where the match really took shape. Lots of dramatic near falls and fans sustained a very high level of heat throughout, not quieting down much during the second half. Tenzan and Kojima looked really sharp on offense and defense, particularly contributing to the drama of many of the near falls. By the end of the match, fans were electric and popped huge for the finish. Tenzan's moonsault was a perfect finish because it was one of his "big match" moves, and thus only used in times of great meaning. A perfect culmination to a year in which TenKoji emerged as the best team in wrestling, and one could not have asked for a better tournament final. ****1/4

Next Article: Honorable Mention 5: The Final (???) Cut

BACK TO THE MOSS COVERED THREE HANDLED FAMILY CREDENZA MENU
HOME