NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING
June 12, 1993
1. Masa Chono & Takayuki Iizuka vs Tony Halme & Bobby Eaton
Iizuka hit a dropkick but Halme dominated him as footage began. Halme landed a punch to Iizuka’s gut but missed a second and Iizuka back suplexed him. Halme kicked Chono and tagged Eaton. Chono got the better of Eaton with punches and whipped him across the apron into the corner. Chono clotheslined Eaton on the apron and dumped him onto the ropes in the corner. Chono landed more punches and knocked Eaton off the ropes. Eaton fought back with a neckbreaker. Halme missed a clothesline but hit a second one on Iizuka. Halme gave Iizuka a side suplex for a near fall and choked him. Eaton telegraphed a backdrop and Iizuka kicked him. Chono gave Eaton a couple yakuza kicks and rolled him up for a near fall. Chono gave Eaton an enzuguiri and applied an STF but Halme intervened. Iizuka hit a top rope dropkick on Eaton and gave Halme a terrible urunage. Iizuka and Chono double suplexed Halme. Chono gave Iizuka a top rope shouldertackle when Halme moved. Eaton punched Chono out of the ring and Halme gave Iizuka a corner splash. Halme slammed Iizuka twice and Eaton hit the Alabama jam. Halme gave Iizuka a Samoan drop for the pin at 9:53 (5:07 aired). Okay when Eaton was in and generally dismal when Halme was in. A really flat and useless opener. *
2. Akitoshi Saito & Kabuki vs. Keiji Muto & Akira Nogami
Kabuki kicked Muto early and chopped him in the throat. Muto grabbed a waistlock and backed Kabuki into a corner as he tried to counter with a hammerlock. Muto hit a backwards dropkick on Kabuki and snapmared him. Akira repeatedly kicked Kabuki and attacked his left arm. Kabuki gave Akira a couple kicks. Saito gave Akira a couple roundhouse kicks but Akira fought back and took him down. Akira went for a cross armbreaker but Saito reached the ropes before Akira could fully extend his arm. Akira got the better of Saito by continuing to work on his left arm. Saito scored with some roundhouse kicks. Akira fought back when Saito got his leg caught in the ropes and tagged Muto. Muto took Saito down by his gi and knocked Kabuki off the apron. Muto hiptossed Saito and took him down to the mat. Muto applied a toehold and he and Akira gave Saito a leg split. Akira stomped Saito’s weakened left leg and attacked it but Saito fought back with a kick to the face. Saito gave Akira a roundhouse kick and Kabuki landed a couple punches. Kabuki clotheslined Akira for a near fall and stomped him. Saito gave Akira three more roundhouse kicks and a spin kick. Akira tried to fight back but Saito elbowed him and kicked him. Muto snapmared Saito and gave him a power elbow before applying a figure 4 leglock on Saito. Kabuki jumped off the second rope with a chop on Muto to break the hold. Kabuki gave Muto a savate kick and a swinging neckbreaker before applying a sleeper. Muto fought back and they did a criss cross ending when Kabuki gave Muto a monkey flip but Muto jumped up and tagged Akira. Akira ran into a superkick from Kabuki. Saito gave Akira a few head chops and a roundhouse kick. Saito attempted another kick but Akira grabbed his leg and took him down. Akira applied a Boston crab on Saito but Kabuki intervened. Akira gave Saito some elbows but missed a dropkick. Saito missed a spin kick and Akira dropkicked him from behind. Akira slammed Saito and gave him a top rope splash for a near fall. Akira knocked Kabuki off the apron and dropkicked Saito. Akira back suplexed Saito and tagged Muto. Muto dropkicked both opponents and gave Kabuki a handspring elbow and a bulldog for a near fall. Akira knocked Saito out of the ring with an elbow and hit a tope. Muto back suplexed Kabuki. Akira went for a top rope axhandle but Kabuki spat green mist in his eyes in mid-air. Kabuki kicked and punched Muto out of the ring. Kabuki rammed Muto into the ringpost as Saito got the better of Akira. Kabuki attacked Muto with a chair and Muto was bleeding from the head. Kabuki and Saito attacked Muto’s head with fairly lame chops. Kabuki hit Muto with another weak chairshot in the ring. Saito gave Muto more roundhouse kicks as Kabuki attacked Akira near the front row with a chair. Akira went after Saito but Saito got the better of him and went back to attacking Muto with a couple kneelifts. Muto missed a dropkick and Saito gave him more head chops and punches. Kabuki kicked Muto and dug his fingers into Muto’s bloody forehead. Kabuki continued to attack Muto’s head and also landed a couple kicks. Kabuki also kicked Akira as Saito held him off. Kabuki bit Muto’s head and gained a near fall. Saito gave Muto a couple roundhouse kicks but Muto fought back with a spinning kick of his own. Muto elbowed Kabuki on the apron, and in response Kabuki entered the ring and attacked him. Akira went after Kabuki but Saito got the better of him. Kabuki gave Muto a really weak lariat and a back suplex for a near fall. Kabuki attempted another back suplex but Muto fell on top of him for a near fall. Muto German suplexed Kabuki for a near fall but Kabuki held his ground. Saito continued to attack Muto with lame head shots and a solid roundhouse kick. Saito won an exchange of blows with Muto. Muto countered a suplex and kicked Kabuki. Muto gave Kabuki a backbreaker but missed a moonsault. Saito spin kicked Muto and Kabuki gave him a lariat for the pin at 19:31. The travesty of this, besides obviously the result, was that the ENTIRE match aired! What a waste of TV time this was. As for the match, the first half built slowly, but was pretty good. Saito was very limited in his moveset, but his kicks were good and that’s mostly what he did early. Then the match degenerated with the lame violence and blood centered around Kabuki. They should have just used Abby because he would’ve contributed just as much physically as Kabuki. Sure Kabuki tried, but his offense was just so weak and any good he once had was long gone by 1993. Talent-wise, Muto and Akira were wasted. They should have aired half this match and given more TV time to the Super Junior tournament. *1/4
3. Tatsumi Fujinami & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura
A wild brawl erupted as Hashimoto and Fujinami stormed the ring. Hashimoto choked Koshinaka with a white belt or strap and threw him out of the ring. Hashimoto then choked Kimura with the belt as well. Hashimoto rammed Kimura’s face into the mat and Fujinami gave Kimura some punches from the apron. Hashimoto slammed Kimura and tagged Fujinami. Fujinami slammed Kimura and raked his face with his boot. Fujinami applied a sleeper on Kimura briefly and slammed him. Hashimoto elbowsmashed Kimura for a near fall and applied a chinlock. Hashimoto punched Kimura but Kimura fought back with a savate kick. Hashimoto attacked Koshinaka with kneelifts and gave him a tilt-a-whirl gut-buster. Hashimoto applied a half crab on Koshinaka but Kimura intervened. Koshinaka gave Hashimoto a couple kneelifts and a kick. Koshinaka kneedropped Hashimoto and Kimura gave him a couple kicks. Kimura punched Hashimoto several times in the gut and Koshinaka gave him a kneedrop. Koshinaka continued to kick away at Hashimoto’s gut and threw him out of the ring. Kimura whipped Hashimoto into the barricade and kicked him in the gut repeatedly. Hashimoto chopped Koshinaka but Koshinaka raked his eyes in response. Koshinaka continued to stomp Hashimoto’s gut. Kimura gave Hashimoto a couple kneelifts and a third coming off the ropes. Kimura snapmared Hashimoto and Koshinaka gave him a top rope foot stomp. Koshinaka attacked Hashimoto’s gut again as did Kimura. Kimura gave Hashimoto a kneelift, snapmared him and stomped his gut again. Kimura applied a stomach claw on Hashimoto and gave him another kneelift. Koshinaka gave Hashimoto a hip attack but Fujinami tagged in. Koshinaka caught Fujinami coming off the top rope and gave him a hip attack. Fujinami countered a dragon suplex attempt and gave Koshinaka an enzuguiri. Fujinami applied a dragon sleeper on Koshinaka and one on Kimura when he intervened. Koshinaka then applied a dragon sleeper on Fujinami. Kimura snapmared Fujinami and gave him a kick as Koshinaka gave Fujinami a hip attack from behind. Koshinaka gave Fujinami a hip attack and Kimura followed with a flying kick. Kimura powerbombed Fujinami for a near fall. Kimura gave Fujinami another leg lariat for a near fall. Kimura telegraphed a backdrop and Fujinami kicked him. Fujinami gave Kimura an enzuguiri and Hashimoto scored with some roundhouse kicks. Hashimoto spin kicked Kimura but Koshinaka interfered and Kimura fought back with a leg lariat. Koshinaka gave Kimura a hip attack when Hashimoto moved and Fujinami gave Kimura an enzuguiri from the apron. Hashimoto went to DDT Kimura but Koshinaka gave him a hip attack. Kimura gave Hashimoto a leg lariat for a near fall as Fujinami attacked Koshinaka. Hashimoto DDTd Kimura for a near fall and pinned him at 12:12 after a second DDT. Again the entire match aired, which was a questionable use of TV time. This match was just okay, with the intensity carrying most of the match. The work was generally lackluster except for some work from Koshinaka and Hashimoto’s offense down the stretch. *3/4
*The show finished with clips of the finishes of several 1993 Super Junior Tournament matches. By far this was the highlight of an otherwise crappy show.
BACK TO MY TV REVIEWS MENU
HOME