NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING
April 24, 1993
1. Jushin Liger & El Samurai vs Ultimo Dragon & Norio Honaga
Dragon had Samurai tied up with a leglock and rear chinlock as footage began. Honaga kicked Samurai and gave him some forearms. Samurai fought back with an elbow of his own. Liger attacked Honaga with palm strikes and hit a koppo kick. Liger snapmared Honaga and applied a chinlock. Samurai gave Honaga a top rope axhandle and a side suplex. Samurai began with a Romero special on Honaga but turned it into a rear chinlock bending Honaga back. Honaga escaped by biting Samurai’s fingers. Honaga actually raked Samurai’s fingers across the top rope. Dragon back suplexed Samurai for a near fall and applied a figure 4 leglock. Dragon piledrove Samurai for a near fall but Samurai fought back with a running lariat in the corner. Liger whipped Dragon into the corner, whipped Samurai into Dragon, then gave Dragon a koppo kick in the corner. Liger gave Dragon a weak belly to belly superplex as they appeared to have a hard time balancing. Liger gained a near fall. Liger charged but Dragon moved and Liger crashed out of the ring. Dragon missed a tope but landed on his feet. Liger ran into a lariat from Honaga and Dragon then hit a plancha on Liger. Samurai hit a somersault plancha on Dragon and Honaga followed with a tope on Samurai as fans popped. Honaga powerbombed Samurai on the floor. Back in the ring Dragon tombstoned Liger for a near fall and gave him a Saito like back suplex for another near fall. Honaga piledrove Samurai on the floor. Dragon and Honaga gave Liger a spike piledriver in the ring and Honaga piledrove Liger for a near fall. Honaga German suplexed Liger for a near fall and hit a top rope clothesline for another near fall. Dragon and Honaga missed a clothesline and Liger sunset flipped Honaga for a near fall as Samurai clotheslined Dragon out of the ring. Samurai dropkicked Honaga and slammed him. Samurai top rope dropkicked Honaga for a near fall but Honaga fought back with a low mule kick. Samurai went for a backdrop, Dragon landed on his feet but Samurai clotheslined him. Samurai German suplexed Dragon for a near fall and powerbombed him for another near fall. Liger gave Dragon a top rope splash for a near fall and a Liger bomb for another near fall. Liger gave Dragon a frankensteiner for a near fall. Liger lifted Dragon on his shoulders and Samurai hit a flying bodypress on Dragon for a near fall. Samurai slammed Dragon but missed a top rope headbutt. Dragon tiger suplexed Samurai for a near fall as Honaga missed a tope on Liger. Dragon rolled up Samurai for a heated near fall as Liger hit a tope on Honaga. Dragon gave Samurai an in-ring quebrada and a huracanrana for the pin at 18:07 (9:47 aired). Hot match, and an excellent one. Pretty much everyone was as sharp as would be expected, with no one really standing out more than usual. ****
2. Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu
Not much early as they did the lock and break routine, although Choshu got in a slap on Tenryu. Tenryu landed a kneelift and some hard chops and gave Choshu a lariat. Choshu tied up Tenryu in the corner and elbowed him in heelish fashion. Choshu actually overpowered Tenryu in a test of strength and threw some chops of his own. Choshu gave Tenryu a couple running kneelifts. Choshu took Tenryu down and attempted to apply his version of the sharpshooter. Tenryu prevented Choshu from turning him over but Choshu maintained a leglock for a lengthy period of time. Choshu turned Tenryu over and successfully applied the sharpshooter until Tenryu reached the ropes. Tenryu took Choshu down with a headlock. Tenryu tackled Choshu and gave him an enzuguiri. Tenryu elbowed Choshu and chopped him. Tenryu hit a short clothesline and gave Choshu more chops in the corner. He kicked Choshu in the face a couple times. Tenryu whipped Choshu into the opposite corner and gave him a jumping knee. Tenryu taunted Choshu and powerbombed him. Choshu rolled out of the ring but Tenryu jumped off the apron with a tackle. Tenryu gave Choshu a lariat but missed a second and Choshu dumped him out of the ring. Choshu caught Tenryu on the top rope and superplexed him amidst great heat. Choshu gave Tenryu a lariat for a near fall. Choshu back suplexed Tenryu for a near fall and hit a top rope knee to a prone Tenryu. Choshu hit a lariat for a heated near fall and a powerbomb for another near fall. Tenryu fought back with an enzuguiri. Tenryu powerbombed Choshu but sold his own head and neck stemming from Choshu’s lariats. Tenryu slammed Choshu and hit a top rope elbow but Choshu caught him off guard with a back suplex. Choshu gave Tenryu a lariat for a heated near fall. Tenryu tried to duck a second lariat but Choshu DDTd him. Choshu gave Tenryu three more lariats and pinned him in 14:53. The entire match aired, and it was a good match with an old-style feel. Great heat and the match built well from start to finish. The major league atmosphere helped, but both men worked to their potential given where they were at in their careers. ***
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