NEW JAPAN WORLD PRO WRESTLING
August 27, 1994
1. Tatsumi Fujinami vs Kensuke Sasaki
Sasaki was dressed in his Power Warrior gimmick. Fujinami had a dragon sleeper on Sasaki as footage began. Sasaki escaped and back suplexed Fujinami. Sasaki hit a lariat for a near fall and a powerslam for another near fall. Sasaki applied a strnaglehold until Fujinami reached the ropes. Sasaki powerslammed Fujinami but Fujinami countered an ipponzei with a backslide for the mild upset pin at 5:25. Only the last 2:06 aired, but it looked like a solid match.
2. Power Warrior vs Hiroshi Hase
Warrior had I think a modified stranglehold on Hase as footage began. Warrior whipped Hase into the corner but Hase caught him coming out and gave him a urunage. Hase hit a second urunage for a near fall. Hase German suplexed Warrior for a near fall and gave him a northern lights suplex for a more heated near fall. Hase applied a modified STF on Warrior. Warrior blocked a urunage attempt and DDTd Hase. Sasaki held onto Hase and gave him two more DDTs. Warrior hit four lariats but Hase stood his ground. Warrior finally flattened Hase with a fifth lariat. Warrior gave Hase an ipponzei and applied a stranglehold for the submission win at 16:51 (5:11 aired). Not enough aired to give this a definite rating, but it looked like a good match in the *** range. Hase was so much fun to watch as a heavyweight worker and was one of the few to make a seamless transition from the juniors division to the heavyweight division.
3. Hiroshi Hase vs Tatsumi Fujinami
Hase had an armbar on Fujinami as footage began. Hase gave Fujinami somewhat of a hammerlock DDT. Hase gave Fujinami a flying hammerlock slam off the middle rope amidst strong heat. He northern lights suplexed Fujinami for the win at 17:34. Less than a minute aired, but the finish looked very heated.
4. Shinya Hashimoto vs Power Warrior
Hashimoto applied a headlock and Warrior tackled Hashimoto but Hashimoto stood his ground. Warrior kicked Hashimoto and gave him a series of stiff chops. Hashimoto went for a kick but Warrior grabbed his leg. They exchanged hard slaps and Hashimoto backed Sasaki into a corner. Warrior actually won a test of strength but Hashimoto took him down to the mat. Hashimoto applied a rear chinlock on Warrior for a lengthy period of time. Hashimoto chopped Sasaki in the throat and reapplied the chinlock. Hashimoto landed a few shots to Warrior’s throat and applied a standing sleeper that turned into another chinlock. Hashimoto applied another chinlock but Warrior countered with a back suplex. Warrior gave Hashimoto a kneelift, snapmared him and applied a headscissors. Hashimoto escaped and elbowsmashed Warrior’s back, and Warrior bailed out of the ring. Warrior and Hashimoto exchanged chops as heat intensified. Warrior gave Hashimoto several headbutts and a snap suplex. Warrior applied a strnaglehold for a while. Hashimoto escaped and grabbed Warrior’s leg in a leglock of sorts. Warrior countered with a leglock of his own and went to apply a sharpshooter but the ref restrained him. Hashimoto went after Warrior’s arm and attempted a Fujiwara armbar but Warrior blocked it. Hashimoto landed three roundhouse kicks but Warrior stood his ground. Hashimoto then scored with a chop and roundhouse kick in quick succession. Hashimoto punched and chopped Warrior and gave him a roundhouse kick. Hashimoto hit a lariat for a near fall. Hashimoto gave Warrior a jawbreaker and hit a rare senton for a near fall. Hashimoto landed more chops and slammed Warrior. Hashimoto elbowsmashed Warrior for a near fall. Warrior fought back with a dropkick. He whipped Hashimoto into the corner and gave him a bulldog out of the corner. Warrior hit a lariat for a near fall and a powerslam for another near fall. Warrior applied his stranglehold on Hashimoto for a lengthy period of time until Hashimoto reached the ropes. Warrior attempted an ipponzei and Hashimoto blocked it but Warrior instead gave Hashimoto’s arm repeated pumphandles. Warrior then hit an ipponzei for a near fall. Warrior ran into a superkick and Hashimoto gave him a great roundhouse kick to the head for a near fall. Hashimoto scored with several stiff roundhouse kicks on Warrior. Warrior slumped out of the ring although Hashimoto’s nose was bloody. Hashimoto spin kicked Warrior for a heated near fall. Hashimoto DDTd Warrior for a near fall. Hashimoto missed a lariat I think and Warrior tripped him. Warrior landed a couple kneelifts and applied a stranglehold on Hashimoto amidst strong heat. Warrior hit a lariat but Hashimoto fired back with a lariat of his own. Warrior attempted a suplex but Hashimoto countered with a brainbuster for a near fall. Hashimoto hit a couple sharp roundhouse kicks and German suplexed Warrior for a near fall. Hashimoto hit a rolling kick as both men were on their knees. Warrior dropkicked Hashimoto but Hashimoto responded with a dropkick of his own. Hashimoto went for a cross armbreaker but Warrior prevented it from being fully applied before he reached the ropes. Hashimoto landed a roundhouse kick and a spin kick for a near fall. Hashimoto DDTd Warrior for a near fall. Warrior gave Hashimoto an ipponzei for a very heated near fall. Both men exchanged slaps as time ran out at 30:00. This was a long match to sit through, but it was dramatic during the second half. The build portion was entirely solid, but rather boring except for a few brief spurts of action. The last 10 minutes were excellent with both men exchanging their signature moves. Nothing fancy, and often simple, but dramatic and the offense was stiff, especially from Hashimoto. A worthy main event, but I think they should have cut out the first 10 or 15 minutes to make the match seem better than it actually was. Hashimoto had not yet reached his working peak, while Warrior’s work had stagnated during the past year or so. So give them credit for holding the fans’ interest and being able to generate great heat down the stretch after an often lackluster build. Thirty minutes was a risk, but given those involved I’d day they passed the test. For casual fans, there are much better matches out there, including other singles matches between these two. For serious New Japan fans, this is a match to check out. ***
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