The Puro Review: AJPW Vs. NJPW 2001: New Century Battle

My name is Jake, and I am a puroresu fan. ‘Puroresu’ means Japanese wrestling is all it’s forms, from the refined wrestling goodness of NJPW and AJPW to the trashy hardcore federations like FMW, and everything in between. In my reviews I’m going to sit down and take you through shows from all the federations in Japan and highlight their historical significance as well as review them. If you have never been exposed to puroresu, then read my reviews and you will find out how to break into it over time.

As far as my ratings system goes, I use percentage scores instead of the more conventional stars because it gives me more scope and I can differentiate between one ***** match and another. Matches will gain points on how much they entertain me, how well the wrestlers work, and how well they integrate psychology into the match.

With that out of the way, enjoy this review…

AJPW vs. NJPW 2001: New Century Battle

In mid-2000, the wrestlers of All Japan Pro Wrestling were split apart. Company ace, and the man who had so many classic matches throughout the 1990’s, Mitsuhara Misawa, had become so frustrated with tension between himself and the head booker of his company that he led a rebellion against AJPW’s top brass, and took himself and his friends away to form a new company, Pro Wrestling NOAH. Unfortunately for AJPW, Misawa and his friends made up the vast majority of the upper-card talent. Suddenly they were left without Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue, Jun Akiyama, and of course Misawa himself, among many others who had carried the company to some of the greatest years in wrestling history. Left with just a bitter and twisted Toshiaki Kawada, the old and broken down Genichiro Tenryu and the guy who isn’t quite ready yet in Taiyo Kea to lead their company. They were, predictably, having some problems, so they formed bridges with their ancient nemesis, NJPW, for a feud that would make massive amounts of money, and help AJPW out a bit.

This is the commercial release comprising the best of the last few shows produced by this feud, both of which were on All Japan territory, so NJPW guys will be playing heels. The tape has been reviewed on other sites under the simpler name of ‘AJPW vs. NJPW 2001’, but this version is ever so slightly different in that some of the matches here are slightly clipped down, but it is only very slightly. And with the explanations out of the way, lets get down to business…

Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (NJPW) vs. George Hines & Steve Williams (AJPW)

We JIP (which means we cut out the beginning of the match and cut to some point in the middle) to Kojima controlling Hines with a suplex. Hines tries to fight back with elbow strikes, but Kojima does a heelish eye rake and continues the assault with a bit of double teaming. Kojima looks around himself to a chorus of disapproval from the AJPW crowd, which gives Hines the time to power himself up. He tries to fight back with more elbows, but gets beaten down again and Tenzan is tagged so he can taunt Williams and stomp away on Hines. The suplex is denied though, and Hines reverses the attempt for one of his own and makes the hot tag! Flying shoulderblock to Tenzan, and Williams takes Kojima out too before going back to Tenzan and gorilla pressing him above his head. Gorilla press slam to Kojima as well and Williams goes back to Tenzan, whipping him into the corner, splashing him and hitting the capture suplex. Belly-to-belly slam gets 2 Ѕ and he tries for the Doctor-Bomb, but Kojima makes the save only to get PUNCHED in the face for his trouble! DOCTOR-BOMB is hit, but Kojima manages to save again and Williams looks suitably annoyed. Hines is tagged in and hits dropkicks all round before downing Tenzan with a lariat, but he gets beaten with a Samoan drop off the charge and Kojima is tagged in. He lariats Hines in the corner and deals with Williams before getting Hines into position and hitting the DIVING ELBOW for 2 ѕ! Kojima prepares and runs for the lariat, but Hines reverses and nails him with a URANAGE for 2.9! Williams deals with Tenzan and whips Kojima towards Hines for a STIFF leaping high kick followed up with a spinebuster from Williams and a diving splash from Hines for another 2.9! Tenzan tries to save with Mongolian chops, but gets awkwardly dealt with by Williams and Kojima is put in the corner. Williams avalanches him and whips him back to Hines for a powerslam, getting yet another 2.9, but Tenzan is in and dealing with Williams. Kojima joins him, inexplicably as he’s just been beaten down, and they whip Williams for a double shoulderblock. Hines tries to take them both out with a double lariat, but they duck and hit the 3D for 2.9999!! Tenzan says that’s all and climbs the turnbuckle to hit Hines with a diving headbutt while Kojima nuts Hines in the balls… but Williams saves and deals with Tenzan. He grabs Kojima for the backdrop, but Tenzan saves and deals with Williams. Tenzan misses a leg lariat, badly, and Hines tries to cover up allowing Kojima to hit the STIFF AS HELL LARIATOOO for the victory!

We lost about half the match to the clipping, give or take, but the hot ending that we saw was a lot of fun, very nicely done. There was a few messy bits though, Williams looks old and fat especially, but Tenzan was a little sloppy as well. Hines impressed me in bits, and I like Kojima’s look and style so far, but we’ll see how my opinions on these guys develops throughout the tape, as they all appear again except Hines. This was a lot of good fun, but clipped quite a lot, so that ain’t good… 64%

Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW) vs. Keiji Mutoh (NJPW)

This is the big singles match here, the NJPW ace vs. the AJPW ace, and it has been discussed on the internet ever since it occurred. Opinions, both to this match, and the rematch that has just happened on the AJPW February 2002 PPV, differ greatly, but we shall see how I feel about this after I go over it…

Mutoh is out first, I like his look, a big white trenchcoat and disgruntled expressions, very intense, and very nice. The crowd go mental for Kawada and literally cover the ring in streamers when they announce him. They start with a feeling out process, with Kawada going for Mutoh’s legs a little bit, and Mutoh gets scared of him attacking his weak legs and rolls outside for a breather. Back in, Mutoh gets kicked and Kawada unleashes the harsh chops in the corner, but gets a snapmare for his trouble, and Mutoh comes off the ropes for the POWER DRIVE ELBOW~! Mutoh hits the chinlock, but Kawada eventually works him to a vertical base and shoots him off, only to be taken down with a shoulderblock on the rebound and another chinlock. Kawada works him to a vertical base again and lifts Mutoh for a botched, face-dropping, backdrop suplex! Kawada unleashes the strikes all over the newly injured neck of Mutoh for a good long while, taking him around the ring and just destroying the neck. Mutoh sells the whole time by massaging his neck, but he never really seems that effected by the injury. He gains a moments respite and rolls out of the ring for another breather but Kawada ain’t waiting this time, and goes out after him for another nice axe-kick! Mutoh reverses a whip to rail Kawada though, and they get back in with Mutoh in control. He pounds Kawada, but takes Tekken kicks to the injured knees, and Kawada downs him with them, puts him in the corner, and lays into the neck with kicks. Mutoh seems to have forgotten about selling the neck now, as he isn’t massaging it as he was minutes ago. Kawada hits a mini-kick flurry and a slam followed with another HARSH kick but Mutoh NO SELLS it and they exchange strikes! Kawada gets the upper hand again though, and slams Mutoh for yet another HARSH kick, and this time he stays down. Knee-drop to the face and neck and Kawada looks for the powerbomb, but Mutoh powers out of it and dumps Kawada only to take a lariat! Mutoh no sells that, but gets high kicked into the corner, and Kawada follows up with a NASTY high kick right to the neck! Kawada tries for the powerbomb again, and gets it for 2 ѕ! Mutoh rolls out to the apron, and stands up, only to be drilled with yet another high kick and sent flying into the crowd! Mutoh grabs a chair, and tries to bring it into the ring because he’s afraid he cannot beat Kawada alone, but the referee stops him and puts the chair back. Mutoh rolls into the ring alone, and immediately takes the WEAK-ASS KICK FLURRY… but he blocks the gamengiri and fires off a DROPKICK TO THE KNEE~! He follows up with several dropkicks to the knee from various point in the ring, until he breaks out the DRAGON SCREW! He tries for another dragon screw, but Kawada leaps and connects with an ENZUIGURI! Mutoh barely sells it though, certainly not selling the neck injury anymore, and connects with another dropkick to the knee and THE FIGURE FOUR~! Kawada sells the thing very well as Mutoh draws more wizard-powers to help him. The crowd get behind Kawada and he manages to turn the hold over… but Mutoh turns it back! Kawada slaps Mutoh in the face, giving him time to turn the hold over again and Mutoh doesn’t think it’s worth carrying on applying that and so both men grab the ropes. Mutoh is NJPW though, so he plays heel and keeps the hold locked on for as long as he can until letting Kawada go under the referees instruction. He hits another few dropkicks to the knee, and stylishly taunts the audience. Dragon screw… again… but Kawada no sells and hits a VICIOUS running high kick! Kawada makes sure to limp on the injured leg while he waits for Mutoh to stand, and hits the GAMENGIRI for 2 ѕ! Ok… Kawada hit the gamengiri with the injured leg and didn’t get hurt by performing the move, not good selling there… Kawada follows up with the STRETCH PLUM, and he really wrenches the hold in! Mutoh looks unconscious, so Kawada goes for the pin… 2.9! Knee-drop to the face MISSES, and Kawada’s injured leg hits the mat hard! Mutoh blinks once, in order to sell the neck apparently, before hitting him with a dropkick to the arm, and another from the second rope. Why the arm? Jujigatame is locked in and wrenched, but Kawada makes the ropes! Mutoh dropkicks the arm even more and tries another jujigatame, but Kawada reverses it and locks in his own! Mutoh makes the ropes, but gets drilled when he stands with a LARIAT! But Kawada doesn’t cover due to selling the injured arm! See, that’s good selling. Another lariat, and Kawada sells the arm again before hitting yet another lariat for 2.9. He sells the arm again, giving Mutoh time to stand, and another lariat is blocked, causing pain to that arm again, and Mutoh grabs his leg for a dragon screw! Kawada sells it… starts to stand up… and Mutoh runs at him with a SHINING WIZARD for 2.999!! Not executed brilliantly, but a shining wizard all the same. Kawada tries to stand, but sells brilliantly and collapses to the mat again. Mutoh covers for another 2.999 and Kawada has that blank expression on his face. Mutoh pulls him up and kicks him, Kawada responds with punches, but he’s all spent, and Mutoh drills him with another SHINING WIZARD and a final knee to the face for the victory!

Now this is an interesting little match. The action was, for the most part, quality. Both men’s offence was well executed, but not quite perfect, and despite their ages, they put on a damn good fight. Kawada is great, when he is on offence he is enjoyable to watch even though he doesn’t have thousands of moves in his arsenal, and when he is selling he is usually even better, using innovative techniques to effectively sell his opponents moves. However, here he was patchy, especially when he failed to sell the leg injury after hitting a big move with it. We expect more of Kawada than that, and he brought back the ‘a’ game for the selling after this point, but the damage was done. Mutoh is a different story. He has always been a good worker when he tries, but nothing special when he doesn’t, and here he was trying reasonably hard. He sold the neck in an acceptable, but certainly not great, fashion during the first portion of the match, but he seemed to get bored of that towards the end and really forgot about it, especially after taking the stretch plum. However, his offence is great fun to watch. Mutoh seems to have this Rock like quality to him, his mannerisms in the ring and when he does moves are hugely entertaining, especially things like the power drive elbow. All in all, this match was good in parts, but it went slightly over long and the participants were not trying their absolute best all the way through, resulting in some sloppiness. Decent to watch, but nothing at all special… 73%

Satoshi Kojima & Hiro Saito (NJPW) vs. Mike Rotunda & Steve Williams (AJPW)

We JIP again to Kojima hitting a nice sit down spinebuster on Rotunda and following up with his lariat in the corner spot. Rotunda is then whipped to the other corner, and put in position, just like Hines was earlier, and Kojima heads up top to hit the DIVING ELBOW… but Williams makes the save. Kojima hits the diamond cutter on Rotunda and removes the elbow pad… but Mike kicks the arm when Kojima goes for the lariat and hits him with a perfect Samoan drop! Saito makes the save though so Rotunda tags in Williams who hits an avalanche on Kojima for 2 ѕ and tries the revolution lariats, but Kojima reverses and hits a release german suplex! Saito is tagged in and he hits Williams with a couple of nice SENTONS for 2 Ѕ! Saito says that’s all, and goes up top… but he misses the diving senton! Rotunda deals with Kojima, railing him on the outside, and Williams lifts Saito so Rotunda can hit a lariat off the top for 2.9! They shove Saito in the corner, but he fights back with kicks and a couple of jaw-breakers! He stomps away on Williams, but Rotunda catches him and whips him into a corner for a double avalanche. He whips him towards Williams for a spinning spinebuster, and a legdrop… but Kojima saves! Rotunda throws Kojima out on to the ramp to keep him at bay, and Williams tries the backdrop driver on Saito, but it’s denied so Williams gets the DOCTOR-BOMB instead! Kojima saves again! Kojima slaps Williams and turns his attention to Rotunda, and Saito comes out of nowhere with a rollup on Williams for 2 Ѕ! Rotunda spills outside with Kojima and Williams sneaks up on Saito and hits the BACKDROP SUPLEX for the victory!

That was another decent slice of action with the crowd eating out of the wrestlers hands, but all I got to see was the hot ending, and you cannot rate just a hot ending. This clipping stuff is seen a lot in puroresu unfortunately, for whatever reason, and sometimes leaves matches in complete disarray. You have to be very careful when buying tapes that you know what you are getting and whether it is clipped or not, always pay attention to the running time of the tapes in relation to the amount of matches and the likely length of those matches, this is the only clue sometimes as to what is clipped or not.

All-Asian Tag Titles: Yuji Nagata & Shinya Makabe (NJPW) vs. Mitsuya Nagai & Masahito Kakihara (AJPW)

We JIP past a load of stiff kicks, which is a shame as I’d have liked them, to Makabe sucking up a whip and nailing Kakihara with a spear! He makes the hot tag to Nagata and Kakihara feels stiff kicks. Exploder is blocked though, and Nagata deals with Nagai only to get slapped. Kakihara charges, but he stumbles right into the EXPLODER for 2 Ѕ and Nagata kicks the legs and steps over for THE IDIOT LOCK~! Makabe deals with Nagai and locks him into THE IDIOT LOCK II at the same time! The AJPW guys make the ropes, but the NJPW guys hang on until absolutely necessary, drawing massive heat from the crowd. Nagata tries a german on Kakihara, Nagai tries to save, but gets stopped by Makabe again… and the AJPW guys reverse their respective attackers into stereo leg grapevines! Nagata keeps almost making the ropes, but Kakihara always pulls him back to the centre, until he just manages to get them and escape. Kakihara sells the idiot lock and limps over to tag Nagai, and him and Nagata stiff kick each others legs until Nagata manages to kick his supporting leg out from under him in mid-roundhouse kick! Great spot! Makabe is tagged in and they double team Nagai with a whip into a high kick and then the whip into a spear! Makabe says that’s all and fires off the NORTHERN LIGHTS SUPLEX for 2.999! He chops Nagai in the neck, but he no sells and wants more, so Makabe charges at him only to be caught with a SWEET release german suplex! Nagai wants to tag, but he cannot stand, so he tries to put Makabe in some form of hold. Nagata saves, and smacks Nagai hard enough for Makabe to hit his ROLLING GERMANS for another 2.999! Nagata also counted that pin, in a nice touch, but then he also complained with the referee when he didn’t count three, silly bloke, if he counted the pin he should know it was only 2… Kakihara has had enough so he deals with Nagata and him and Nagai set up Makabe for an elevated SLAP, but it only gets 2.999! They set Makabe up on top, and both hook him for a SWEET double fisherman’s suplex, but Nagata saves. Kakihara deals with Nagata on the outside, allowing Nagai to hit a funky knee and a STUNNING springboard knee smash for the victory!

Yet another nice collection of spots and great moves, but matches feel disjointed without their beginnings, and I just cannot rate them effectively. The first JIPed tag match on this tape was only slightly clipped, so I felt I could rate that, but these last two were just the hot endings really. Having said that, you have to love all the guys in this match, Nagata’s idiot lock is a special favourite of mine, probably my favourite submission hold ever, despite it’s silliness. Nagai looks old, but really does not act it, and that finisher just rules. Kakihara has a great look and I want to see more of him. Finally, Makabe looked decent, but did nothing special. Overall, a damn good finish to what was, most likely, a damn good match.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan (NJPW) vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW)

The referee has to hold Tenzan back from attacking early as they enter the ring, but he looks cautious as they hook up. They do a mini-feeling out process, Tenzan gets the upper hand at one point but backs away, wanting a real fight as his confidence has grown. Tenzan offers a test of strength, but Kawada refuses and kicks Tenzan in the chest, he doesn’t fall down though so Kawada tries the roundhouse… but it still doesn’t knock him down! Tenzan hits a few headbutts and Kawada fights back, but Tenzan casually headbutts him once more and Kawada sells beautifully, just sitting down rather than falling to show the effect on his brain rather than his body, absolute class. Tenzan heelishly stomps away and chokes him before trying an arm lock, but he is denied. He grabs a fujiwara arm bar, but Kawada soon gets free, and Tenzan lets him stand up, only to headbutt him into the corner and hit him with various strikes. Kawada fights back with the stiff kicks and grounds Tenzan with a headlock. He reverses though, and tries a jujigatame, but it’s denied so he chops at Kawada instead. Good back story for the arm, lets hope it means something towards the end of the match. He headbutts the arm, and whips him into a corner lariat and a bulldog for 2. He rakes the eyes, which gets Kawada all mad, but he rakes them again and charges. Kawada meets him with a couple of meaty high kicks, but Tenzan cannot be hurt with head attacks, and the third attempt at a high kick is met with headbutt to the chest and another to the back! Slam, but Tenzan misses a falling headbutt, only to no sell the miss and headbutt the arm of Kawada anyway for 2 Ѕ! He puts Kawada up top and follows, Kawada tries to headbutt out of it, but hurts himself and Tenzan lifts him for a super Samoan drop! But it only gets 2 so Tenzan locks in a neat sleeper with an arm lock, but Kawada kicks out of it. He pounds Kawada, but gets SLAPPED twice only to come back and slam Kawada. Tenzan goes up, but Kawada rolls out of the way due to scared-ness so Tenzan kicks him angrily, snapmares him and goes up once again. Kawada catches him, only to get elbowed back down, and Tenzan goes up yet again, and leaps off… but goes right into a stiff kick from Kawada for 2 Ѕ! Tenzan crawls into the corner, Kawada lines up, and charges for a VICIOUS high kick to the face! He throws Tenzan forward on to the floor and locks in the STRETCH PLUM! Tenzan fades, and Kawada covers him for 2.9! Kawada hits a roundhouse kick and tries the powerbomb, but Tenzan ain’t hurt enough. He kicks him again and tries for the powerbomb again, but Tenzan powers out and dumps Kawada only to take two high kicks. Kawada charges for a lariat, but Tenzan headbutts him in the arm!! He crouches down and locks him into the sleeper / arm lock combination and manages to scissor the body, making the pain even more! He lets Kawada go though, after the submission is not forthcoming, and Kawada rolls to the apron. He soon recovers, and Tenzan hits a couple of mongolian chops, but Kawada fights back with kicks to the leg. Kawada leaps, but Tenzan blocks the gamengiri and hits him with a spinning heel kick! Tenzan lifts him for a slam, but just drops him on his head with an EVIL Michinoku driver variant! He goes up top and leaps into a DYNAMIC MOONSAULT for 2.9! He pounds Kawada, but charges right into some stiff kicks to the mid-section and the GAMENGIRI!! But it’s a kick to the head so it wont hurt Tenzan much and he recovers before Kawada only to walk into a DANGEROUS BACKDROP DRIVER!! But Kawada is too hurt to cover him and Tenzan gets up again anyway! Kawada pounds him and hits another GAMENGIRI… BUT ITS NO SOLD! Mongolian chop, but Kawada comes back with yet another GAMENGIRI! Tenzan struggles this time, but gets to his feet, only to feel another GAMENGIRI for 2.999! Kawada lifts him, but the dangerous backdrop is DENIED, so Kawada hits an axe-kick, and Tenzan is hurt enough to feel another DANGEROUS BACKDROP DRIVER for the victory!

Well that RULED. The start felt slow, but what they did there was a perfect build towards what happened later in the match. By establishing Tenzan’s strength in the head and neck area at the start of the match, they made the onslaught he felt at the end of the match more believable and acceptable whilst at the same time making Tenzan look very strong, even though he was booked to lose. The work on Kawada’s arm was also significant to establish early on, although it only played a small part in the context of the match, it allowed Tenzan to come across as being capable of working on a body part and therefore, equal to Kawada in ability. This is typical of great puroresu matches throughout history, the early matwork and feeling out process pre-empting the finish of the match, and therefore, everything in the match makes a difference to the whole picture. This match is a simple, back to basics, psychology based puroresu match. Without resorting to overt head-dropping, these two guys told a good story and had a nicely hard-hitting fight. It might not be the most epic or deep example of a match of this type, but it is certainly a rarity in this day and age… 87%

AJPW Tag Titles: Taiyo Kea & Johnny Smith (AJPW) vs. Yutaka Yoshie & Manabu Nakanishi (NJPW)

We kick off with a standard beginning, as Yoshie asserts his strength over Kea with a shoulderblock and some neat kicks, but Kea fights back with a STIFF elbow and some chops. They exchange strikes until Yoshie gets in his BACKFIST and a suplex for 2. Nakanishi is tagged in, and Kea immediately brings the swiftness and grabs an arm lock. Nakanishi tries to get out of it with a slam, but Kea holds on to the arm and keeps with the arm lock even during the slam! He shakes off Kea finally, with a different form of slam, and they exchange STIFF chops until Kea fires off a backdrop for a 1 count. Headlock, and Smith is tagged in. He grabs another headlock, but Nakanishi works him to a vertical base and shoots him off, but it doesn’t really go anywhere and Yoshie is tagged in. He hits a MEATY legdrop and another headlock, but Smith reverses. He works over Yoshie’s arm, but Yoshie reverses and works on his leg before tagging Nakanishi. Smith’s leg takes numerous stomps, before Nakanishi reaches down and lifts him into a humiliating STRETCH MUFFLER~! Kea saves, but Yoshie is tagged in for more leg work. Smith looks like being able to fight back, but when Yoshie gets in trouble he hits another BACKFIST and heelishly chokes Smith in the corner. Slam, and Nakanishi comes in for a wrenching headlock on the mat. Smith reaches the ropes, and escapes, but he gets beaten down with HARSH chops and Nakanishi brings the 1970’s offence with the head-claw! Legdrop gets 2 Ѕ and he slams Smith twice, but on the third attempt, Smith escapes and punches Nakanishi in order to fire off a german suplex… but it only gets 1. Ok, a german should really get at least 2, they aren’t really building towards the three count here. Kea gets the tag, and he out swifts Nakanishi with a running knee and a spinning heel kick for yet another 1 count… oh for crying out loud… Nakanishi gets whipped, and Kea tries an arm drag on the rebound, but Nakanishi reverses into an arm drag attempt of his own, so Kea grabs his head and hits a SWIFTY DDT! Yoshie saves… after 1… but Kea slams Nakanishi and goes to the corner. Celestial splash hits knees in EVIL fashion and Nakanishi capitalises with a spear! Smith is somehow in the ring, and Nakanishi picks him up for a torture rack, and throws him into Kea when the latter stands up! He then shoves Smith on top of Kea as well as himself, for extra weight during the pin, and gets 2 Ѕ! Yoshie is tagged in, and Nakanishi picks up Yoshie with a torture rack, and throws him into both Kea and Smith for another 2 Ѕ! This is really goofy 1970’s offence, very odd. Yoshie tries a suplex, but Kea lands on his feet. Yoshie tries BACKFISTS, but Kea breaks out the enzuiguri and tags Smith! Missile front dropkick to Yoshie and Smith powers up! Lariat is no sold, but Smith runs again with a fist to the face for 2! Smith grabs the arm, and works it over with some neat moves until Nakanishi makes the save. Kea throws Nakanishi out though, and Smith helps him hit Yoshie with a northern lights suplex! Kea deals with Nakanishi again and him and Smith hit a top rope splash followed by a diving elbow… but Nakanishi saves again! Kea is tagged in, and he locks Yoshie in a boston crab, followed by a wrenching headlock! Smith predicts the save is coming, and so locks Nakanishi against the ropes with a sleeper scissors before he can do it! Yoshie manages to make the ropes, but Kea keeps on him with kicks, finishing with a back-kick for 2 ѕ! Kea charges with more kicks, but Yoshie fights back and nails him with a PERFECT released german followed with an EVIL camel clutch! Smith tries to save, but Yoshie is having none of it, and deals with him before locking the hold back on Kea! Nakanishi locks Smith in the torture rack and then throws him out of the ring when Kea manages to make the ropes, in revenge for the earlier dual submissions from the AJPW guys. Yoshie tries a powerbomb, Kea kicks him to escape, but Yoshie catches a kick, and lifts Kea into the powerbomb anyway! Yoshie says that’s all, and hits Kea with a german suplex for 2.9! He pulls Kea to his feet, and they exchange strikes. Yoshie charges for his backfist, but Kea fires off a BEAUTIFUL ‘rana rollup for 2.9! Kea kicks away at him, and takes out Nakanishi when he tries to save! Smith keeps Nakanishi occupied with a leg lock, while Kea lifts Yoshie for the HAWAIIAN SMASHER to get the victory!

This was good in bits, mostly the bits where Kea was on offence as he rules it, big time. Smith is a bit dull, but he’s a solid worker. Yoshie is a bit dodgy in the ring, quite slow and plodding, but for some reason I really like the backfist. Nakanishi, on the other hand, is absolutely abysmal. As a result of the sub-par workers, this match was really very slow, and it had no psychology to speak off. This just proves how good Kawada vs. Tenzan was. That match was slow too, at least before the ending, but the subtle things they did made it hugely enjoyable to watch. This match had nothing like that, so it was really, really boring. Damn it, why couldn’t they clip this and not the All Asian tag match… grrr… 32%

Triple Crown: Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW) vs. Keiji Mutoh (NJPW)

This match has been championed by some quarters as the match of the year 2001, and the true sign that Mutoh is back on top form. Judging by his decent, but not special, performance against Kawada earlier, I’m dubious, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Let’s see if that changes…

Mutoh goes right on the attack, even before the bell with DROPKICKS TO THE KNEE~! He tries a dragon screw, but Tenryu fights out of it, only to feel the SHINING WIZARD and Mutoh is PREPARED! He pulls Tenryu to his feet and hits a backbreaker, and he runs up the turnbuckle to go for the moonsault but Tenryu spots him and rolls out of the way! Good way to start the match! Tenryu slows down the pace, and takes the time to sell the shining wizard on the apron, before staring Mutoh down and re-entering the ring. They hook up and Tenryu goes after the arm with some matwork, but they soon break out of that and have another stand-off. Tenryu shows that he is still feeling the shining wizard and Mutoh tries a dropkick to the knee, but Tenryu is wise to that, and side-steps it. Mutoh grabs a headlock, and works it in for far too long before hitting the snapmare, and the POWER DRIVE ELBOW to pop the crowd. He goes back to the chinlock on the mat and works that in for ages as well, until Tenryu works him to a vertical base and pulls out a backdrop! Now they have both felt a powerful head-attacking move. Mutoh gets whipped, but rolls on the rebound and hits a dropkick to Tenryu’s face, but it isn’t enough for even a 1 count. Mutoh works on the arm slightly before backing Tenryu into a corner and hitting some strikes. He whips Tenryu to the other corner and pulls out a handspring elbow, but Tenryu gets his boot up and kicks him in the back of his head! Inventive spot, but it looked dodgy in execution. Mutoh is feeling the pain to the back of his head, and Tenryu looks disgruntled, so he casually walks over to Mutoh and hits a standing enzuiguri to the back of his head for a 1 count! Tenryu continues the big move offence with a powerbomb for 2 ѕ and kicks Mutoh in the head with added disgust. Mutoh sells very well for him, and staggers around the ring, before firing off a LYGERKICK (© Jyushin Lyger) to send Tenryu flying out of the ring! Mutoh takes his time, resting in the ring, before walking over to the ropes and casually pulling out a PESCADO! On the outside, while he is resting, Mutoh is audibly saying ‘ah fuck’ over and over again, this is just surreal to hear coming from his mouth. Mutoh rolls inside and Tenryu struggles on to the apron, only to feel a DROPKICK TO THE KNEE, which Tenryu sells well. Another one forces Tenryu to lie down, and when he stands up again, Mutoh attempts to suplex him back into the ring. He is denied though, and Tenryu manages to lift him over the ropes and suplex him to the floor! Tenryu rolls into the ring, and Mutoh stands up on the outside, but Tenryu charges and launches himself into a TOPE SUICIDA! This is really, really odd, two guys, one of which is easily fifty years old, if not more, and the other whose knees gave up long ago, are pulling out high flying moves like they were chinlocks… and they are both heavyweights! Tenryu makes it to his feet first, and gets up on the apron, but Mutoh grabs his leg and hits a DRAGON SCREW FROM THE APRON TO THE FLOOR! Never seen that one before! Mutoh gets up on the apron first this time, but immediately leaps off again with a missile dropkick… TO THE KNEE! Ok, that last big high flying move was one too many for me, this is a spot-fest, and will not be good unless Mutoh actually follows through on the leg work. Tenryu rolls back into the ring, but Mutoh goes up top, and as soon as Tenryu stands comes off with another missile dropkick to the knee! That’s two too many aerial moves in row for my liking. Mutoh draws wizardly powers from the air to give him strength while Tenryu sells the knee injury, but it ain’t long before Mutoh pops up top once again, and comes off, but MISSES a double stomp which would have hit the knee! Well if he’d hit that he would have actually crushed Tenryu’s kneecap, so it’s kind of a good thing he missed. Mutoh misses a dropkick to the knee, takes a chop, but gets a DRAGON SCREW and locks on the FIGURE FOUR! Well, he has followed through on the leg work, but Mutoh does this every single match, so it means nothing as everyone knows Tenryu is not going to tap. Yup, as I knew he would, Tenryu makes the ropes in double quick time… *looks smug*. Mutoh dropkick the knee yet again, and I spot Lyger watching from the outside in his ‘I’m a heavyweight, honest’, mask, which has made the match for me. Anyway, Tenryu sells the leg well, as he makes it apparent he can’t stand on the thing without the help of the ropes, and Mutoh grabs the limb for another dragon screw but gets punched away, and Tenryu fires off a DROPKICK TO THE KNEE!! Mutoh hits one, but it’s sort of no sold, and Tenryu hits another! Both men are limping, but Tenryu grabs Mutoh’s leg, looks him in the eyes, and hits a DRAGON SCREW! Tenryu sidles over to him dead calmly, and just locks in the figure four! Mutoh sort of sells it, but soon makes the ropes. They stand back up, and Mutoh misses yet another damn dropkick to the knee, and Tenryu hits one. Enough of this already! Tenryu grabs Mutoh’s leg, chops him to the mat and locks on a TEXAS CLOVERLEAF! Tenryu no longer has the leg strength to hold it for long so they sort of collapse out of it. Tenryu punches Mutoh and sets him up on top and follows him up for a SUPER GERMAN SUPLEX! Oh my god! He follows up with a diving elbow for 2.999!! Tenryu punches away, and charges, but Mutoh catches him with a HURRICANRANA and follows up with a brilliant SHINING WIZARD, but Tenryu blocked it and punches Mutoh some more! He lifts Mutoh into a BRAINBUSTER for another 2.999! Tenryu pounds away at Mutoh and whips him into the corner for a flurry of strikes. He puts Mutoh on top, and follows him up with a TOP ROPE HURRICANRANA for 2.9999! Tenryu pounds Mutoh until he is nearly unconscious, and lifts him for the northern lights bomb, but Mutoh struggles free and doesn’t really look phased from the last few minutes of big moves. They both manage to get to their feet, and pound chop at each other, until Mutoh fires off a HUGE backflip kick! He waits, and fires off a PERFECT SHINING WIZARD for 2.999!! Another shining wizard gets 2.99999!! He can’t put him away with his new move, Tenryu is too experienced for that, what else can he do to get the win? He hits the backbreaker, and leaps up top to hit the MOONSAULT for the victory!

Wow, Mutoh just became the first ever non-AJPW wrestler to hold the triple crown! This was probably the single most bizarre match I have ever seen, no one expected these two guys to pull a match like that out of their hats, and that increases the fun it is to watch quite considerably. Firstly, the good bits about this match. The novelty of seeing two heavyweights pull out a load of high flying spots is just great, loads of fun, and the crowd was WELL into it too. Mutoh raised his game slightly for this match, selling things now and again with a bit more flair than he usually does. Tenryu also put on a good show, and has risen to the occasion to help his company in their time of need. The finish was also superb, with Mutoh pulling out the finisher he has been using for so many years when his new finisher could not get the job done. I like the idea of the old, faithful move always being a success for Mutoh, even though he is incapable of doing the thing in every match these days, and how that finisher reflects the age of the participants, and the storyline of them pulling out stuff they used to do back in the old days that ran throughout the contest. Now, if that was all these two had done, the match would have been the stunning, match of the year classic that everyone said it was, but unfortunately, there were bad points too. Even though Mutoh sold things well in places, this was patchy, and towards the end of the match he was selling nothing, forgetting about what had happened earlier in the match just like he did against Kawada. Also, whether the participants are ancient heavyweights or not, having too many meaningless high-flying spots in one match is a very bad thing. The leg work that Mutoh performed was also completely superfluous. Although he did it correctly, the fact that Mutoh has been doing the same dropkicks to the knee, followed by the figure four, in every single match means that no one believes anyone is going to tap out to it anymore. This renders all those missile dropkicks pointless in the long term, although they were fun to watch. And that about sums this match up, a lot of fun to watch, but not possessing the truly stunning storyline or workrate that a wrestling classic should have. As for match of the year – don’t make me laugh. Those honours, in 2001, go to Rock vs. Austin at WM X-7, which managed to tell a similar story as this in a much deeper and subtle way, without resorting to pointless, crowd-popping spots just for the sake of it. Overall, the match was loads of fun, but that was all it was… 81%

Overall

None of the big matches dissapointed here, or at least they wouldn’t have done if the hype machine had not reached them first. The fact is, the Mutoh vs. Kawada and the Mutoh vs. Tenryu matches were pimped to high heaven throughout last year, as the latter was named ‘match of the year’ by several puroresu fans. I just cannot agree with this at all. The former match was decent but sloppy and the latter was partly a novelty match, and partly a well worked spotfest, but was not anywhere near the level of ‘classic’. This was, quite frankly, mostly Mutoh’s fault, although his opponents were not stunning. The fact that Mutoh went on, as champion, to have what has become quickly known as the worst series of triple crown defences in the history of the title shows that he was really not as good as everyone was making out during 2001. The rest of this show was a whole load of great fun, even the clipped tag matches were good to watch. Kawada vs. Tenzan really surprised me though, as they managed to have an old school AJPW match with loads of good psychology and stiffness. This match, I feel, has been vastly underrated by other puroresu reviewers, and is worth a look for all the old school fans out there.

Jake Metcalfe

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