Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dynamite Kid (NJPW, 2/5/80)

The story is a simple but effective one, with the aggressive Dynamite Kid trying to re-open the champ’s bandaged forehead. Fujinami works from underneath for the majority of the match, firing off the occasional uppercut but ultimately being overwhelmed and bloodied by Kid’s snug forearm shots and headbutts. He tries for the dragon suplex hold but Dynamite fights out and continues to target Fujinami’s injury, using kneedrops and fistdrops, knuckling the forehead and at one point, even biting it! Dynamite's such a little shit here -- I mean, the fans are throwing rolls of toilet paper at him! I like that he's seemingly trying for the manjigatame as a heel move. Fujinami does a terrific job of garnering sympathy from the crowd as he sells his injury and the desperation of his retaliations. Dynamite is able to hit the diving headbutt for two but when he tries for the second, Fujinami is able to roll away and the crowd loses their shit. He’s able to dropkick him out of the ring but Dynamite walks away from the follow-up plancha, once again cutting off Fujinami’s momentum as he had through much of the match. But once inside the ring, Fujinami is able to pin him out of nowhere with the Japanese roll leg clutch and Dynamite is pissed. Really good stuff.

Yuji Nagata vs.Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (NJPW, 5/14/05)

A shout out is in order to Kelley Denham's The Forgotten Inokiists for bringing attention to Tsuyoshi Kohsaka's brief but cool run through New Japan from 2002-2005. In March 2005, Kohsaka faced and submitted Yuji Nagata at Nexess V in a short but sweet little match-up. Two months later at Nexess VI, the two had a rematch in what is possibly Kohsaka's best match in NJPW. Nagata is fired up from the ring of the bell, landing a big rolling kick in the ropes before delivering an overhead suplex and a penalty kick. They work the mat in some slick exchanges that result in Kohsaka securing a triangle. Nagata's able to escape the hold and they trade snug face slaps before Nagata attempts the running boot, TK ducks it and slaps on a sleeper hold. When Nagata tries to counter out with an over-the-shoulder armbreaker, TK turns the attempt into a ura-nage and goes right back to the sleeper hold. Nagata is finally able to break away and in a cool moment, he blasts TK with that climbing corner knee before they both collapse in exhaustion. The finishing stretch is great, with them trading more nasty slaps and Nagata countering a front necklock with an Exploder. He dumps Kohsaka with a release dragon suplex and when TK tries once more to lock in the sleeper, Nagata turns it into a killer backdrop hold for the pinfall. Definitely a terrific sub-ten minute match worth checking out.

Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takada vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Osamu Kido (NJPW, 3/7/87)

I love a good 80's handheld match. Some can be a drag to sit through based on the operator, others are little hidden gems and I think this fits into the latter category. Tons of heat between Takada/Maeda and Fujiwara, but especially between hot-head Nobuhiko Takada and old iron-head Yoshiaki Fujiwara. Osamu Kido is the low man on the totem pole and things slow down whenever he's in the ring but, for the most part, he manages to fit in with these guys and does some neat stuff on the mat. At one point, he's got Takada in a leglock and when Takada struggles, Kido kicks his opposite foot to put the pressure back on Takada. Later on, he's able to catch a back kick from Takada and take him down into the single leg crab. But man, once Fujiwara gets in there vs. Takada, the match sizzles. Takada starts cracking Fujiwara's legs with kicks, Fujiwara gets pissed and smacks him down. Against Maeda, Fujiwara immediately takes it to him with body blows before Maeda and Takada work him over with stiff kicks. He's able to slip out of Takada's suplex attempt and take him down with the Fujiwara armbar but he can't get the submission. Maeda German suplexes him and goes into a crossface chickenwing but Fujiwara whips him off and re-applies the hold himself. The finishing stretch between he and Takada is just as nasty as when they started and I loved the actual finish, with Fujiwara catching a kick, stomping out the opposite leg, and then submitting him with the leglock.

Vader vs. Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW, 4/24/89)

This was a one night tournament to crown the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion, with Vader and Shinya Hashimoto reaching the finals. Vader had already wrestled two matches at this point: the first against Masahiro Chono and then a tough semi-final match against Tatsumi Fujinami. Hashimoto, on the other hand, had already gone through Riki Choshu and Victor Zangiev (an awesome match). Hashimoto doesn't have time for Vader's hollering and smoke-spewing elephant head. He immediately goes after the injured arm of Vader, which Fujinami had worked earlier in the night. Vader does a good job initially of keeping the arm behind him but Hashimoto's able to snag it and Vader has to pop him with a spinning backhand. The tension between these two is pretty damn great and when Hashimoto lets loose with the kicks to the arm, Vader sells it terrifically. Vader does such a good job of playing the vulnerable monster in Japan who is scared (legitimately) of submission holds. Hashimoto works the double wristlock and he's able to avoid an avalanche in the corner to hit a few over-the-shoulder armbreakers to set-up the wristlock again. Vader bodyslams out of the hold, building some momentum, which includes a big dropkick, but when he goes up top, Hashimoto stops him with a spinning heel kick and once again goes back to the best shot he has at winning: that injured arm. But Vader is often able to clobber his way out of trouble and does so here, punching Hashimoto in the face and hitting two lariats, the second enough to score the win following an awkward hesitation by special guest ref, Lou Thesz, on the three count. A simple story of finding the dragon's weakness and exploiting it but in the end, the dragon eats the knight.

Masanobu Fuchi vs. El Samurai (NJPW, 6/6/01)

More often than not, Masanobu Fuchi rules. El Samurai has the capacity to rule but in general, he rules less so. He did not necessarily rule here against Fuchi, although the match itself was a lot of fun. Primarily because of Fuchi. This thing starts off with Fuchi hitting a backdrop and Samurai flying around before it settles into some classic Fuchi matwork. Loved him scooting across the mat with Samurai stuck in the headscissors and of course, the wishbone leg split. Samurai rubbing forearms while he's got Fuchi in the clutch is a old-school heel shenanigans, which I enjoy, but then Fuchi shuts him down with backdrop after backdrop after backdrop after backdrop after backdrop after backdrop after backdrop. That's seven, right? Samurai was toast after that. 

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Keiichi Yamada (NJPW, 9/23/86)

Watching Jushin "Thunder" Liger as young lion Keiichi Yamada grap it up with one of the best in Yoshiaki Fujiwara was just as satisfying as one might expect. For not having a ton of experience, Yamada looks pretty good in there with the reverse armbar maestro Fujiwara. I mean, whenever he has an opening, Fujiwara is quick to take him down with the armbar. When Yamada finally gets him in a leglock, Fujiwara mocks him, pointing at the leg like "are you kidding me with this shit?" before promptly exerting control. I really like Yamada's little slaps to the face when he's got Fujiwara on the ropes and then he climbs on with a great octopus hold. But Fujiwara peels him off, flings him down, and hits a side suplex. Yamada's able to grab a kneebar to take him to the ropes, and when he's on his feet, he's lunging at Fujiwara with slaps. At one point, he's able to get Fujiwara in a neat figure-four but that's the last straw as Fujiwara contiously takes him down with Fujiwara armbar counters, eventually submitting him for the win. Very cool match.

Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW, 10/9/00)

I kinda hate the term "banger of a match" but when it fits, it fits. Kensuke Sasaki isn't interesting when he's trying to find his way out of a paper bag on the mat but when he's clobbering and chopping and throwin' bombs, he's pretty great. Toshiaki Kawada is trying to work a side headlock and Kensuke bam-bams his way out of it, blocking the gamengiri and straight punching Kawada in the face. They chop it out, with Kawada really selling Sasaki's hands, they slap it out, and when Sasaki starts to get the better of him, Kawada socks him in the face! Big heart. Kawada unloads on him with nasty kicks in the corner, more chops, folds him in two with a backdrop, and then STRETCH PLUM! I mean, Sasaki sells it like it's kryptonite but then kicks out at one. I didn't have a problem with that because it was almost like a knee-jerk reaction to the ref's hand hitting the canvas. Sasaki steamrolls through with a couple of lariats and the sasori-gatame, Kawada fires back with his own lariats, then they collapse following DUELING lariats -- lots of lariats. I liked the finish, with Kawada landing these enziguris that won't take Kensuke off his feet and Kensuke's finally able to lariat an attempt down, only to run into the biggest enziguri kick of them all to end his reign. A pissed off Kawada lobbing stiff shots is hard to top.

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ryuma Go (NJPW, 10/2/79)

This match combines the best of their previous encounters from 1978, incorporating the suave matwork, the fiery strikes, cool paybacks and callbacks, and a little extra somethin’ somethin’ from Ryuma Go. Fujinami heats up Go with a slap right out of the gate and Go’s beside himself, tossing Fujinami out of the ring. There’s a great sequence with Go grounding Fujinami with a vicious-looking cravate takedown and Fujinami bridging out to snapmare Go. Once again, Go tries slapping his way out of a leglock but only succeeds in pissing off Fujinami, a recurring theme, in which Fujinami lays into him with hard slaps and kicks. In general, Fujinami treats Go like he’s beneath him, at one point shoving him out of the ring while he’s running the ropes. Awesome strikes throughout, especially those headbutts from Go. After Go cuts Fujinami up top, dropkicking him out of the ring, he goes high-risk with a diving body press – only to be followed up shortly after by a plancha from Fujinami. Terrific false finish off of the German suplex, with Fujinami just barely getting a foot on the rope, before Go gets the upset victory with the backslide.

Masahiro Chono vs. Keiji Mutoh (NJPW, 8/11/91)

I'm sure there are other early examples but this match, to me, felt like the blueprint for the epic NJPW G1 Climax style that still persists today, full of nearfalls and one-upmanship. They work through the early minutes of the match trying to establish dominance, with Mutoh going after the leg and Chono controlling the arm. It's slow, it's methodical, it doesn't really pay off in the end but there is some cool moments, especially from Mutoh. I loved him dragging Chono back to the middle of the ring in the Indian deathlock to set up the sickle hold. He works that awhile before transitioning into a dope Cattle Mutilation (possibly the earliest example?). After Mutoh piledrives Chono on the concrete, the match shifts into the next gear, with both guys working in some bigger offense. Mutoh is able to deliver a German and a dragon suplex but misses the moonsault press, while Chono locks in the STF and hits a sick backdrop but can't finish him off before it escalates into the big back-and-forth. Loved Chono trying to sneak in the final STF attempt but Mutoh gets to the ropes. After blocking the Mutoh's moonsault, Chono powerbombs him for the win in what may be one of his best singles performances. Normally, I'm not a big fan of this layout but the build was great, both guys worked their asses off, and the crowd was buying into almost everything down the stretch. Plus, the flying seat cushions raining down on a victorious Chono. Sweet.

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (NJPW, 6/1/94)

What a terrific little title challenge, with Yoshiaki Fujiwara trying to play defense against the increasingly aggressive Shinya Hashimoto. Hashimoto comes into this match with an injured left shoulder, a target for Fujiwara, and it isn't long before he has him on the ground in his patented armbar, making him work for the ropes. Love that Hashimoto gets pissier and pissier as the match progresses, starting with that nasty stomp to the head after forcing Fujiwara to the ropes with an armbar of his own. You get the feeling that Hash really wants to let loose on Fujiwara. Of course, Fujiwara is a dirty old man with the blatant chokes, the ref counting him off before he goes right back to choking Hash. He slaps him in the face, headbutts him, and keeps on choking. When Hashimoto ties him up in the corner, Fujiwara's sells it so well. Hashimoto keeps trying to kick him off but Fujiwara keeps catching or ducking the attempts, until Hashimoto kicks hard enough that he can't block it. He has to beg Fujiwara out of the corners and when he gets him in the front facelock, the knee strikes he uses to set up the DDT looked awesome. In the end, Hashimoto finishes him off with a nasty single-arm DDT, with Fujiwara nearly kicking out of it.

Minoru Tanaka vs. Takehiro Murahama (NJPW, 4/20/01)

Takehiro Murahama had a pretty damn great debut year in 2000 Osaka Pro and by the following year, he's challenging dreamy New Japan junior ace, Minoru Tanaka, for the the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title. This was a really good match and a culmination of everything Murahama had picked up on during his rookie year. For the most part, the early goings were evenly-matched, with both dudes utilizing some neat takedowns and submission workarounds. Minoru has his working boots laced tight for this, with a little extra salsa thrown into his kicks. At one point, they are both struggling over a leglock, slapping each other in the face, until Murahama smartens up, ducks, and tries to take control of the leg but Minoru ends up taking him to the ropes. And then he proceeds to throw him with an awesomely scary Saito suplex.

When Murahama gets back into the ring, he looks like he's about to lock up with Minoru and then suddenly pops him upside the head with a high kick. His submission work looked good here, as he works through a double wristlock into an armbar, which Minoru tries to finagle his way out of. The crowd was super into the nearfalls in the backhalf of the match, which included a sweet snap German suplex by Murahama and Minoru surprisingly busting himself open off repeated headbutts. In the end, Minoru dumps with a release German and taps him with the armbar to retain. A great showing from Murahama and an impressive performance from Minoru.

Koji Kanemoto vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (NJPW, 5/27/00)

This ruled. Stiff strikes, focused legwork from Kanemoto with some uncharacteristically great selling from Takaiwa, neat little nuances here and there, and a few bombs for good measure. Even with a couple of minutes missing, we got the complete story. Kanemoto promptly shotguns him with a kick to the left leg and Takaiwa sells hard for it, before he starts trying to clobber his way to the driver's seat. The lariats into the guardrail were great but then he gets caught with the overhead suplex on the floor and Kanemoto goes to town on the leg. Fun stuff like Takaiwa grabbing the ref's shirt while in the figure-four or Kanemoto backhanding him in the face after he drops down with the spinning toehold. I love that when Takaiwa tries for his own figure-four, it's immediately reversed and he's put on the rocks. Then Kanemoto pulls off the knee pad and starts punching the bandaged knee. Takaiwa is able to work around the bum knee and throw some bombs, including a sweet Death Valley Bomb hold off a tiger suplex attempt. His double powerbomb is obviously weakened because of the leg and he knows it so he pulls Kanemoto up instead of pinning him and clubs him with a lariat. The finish was cool, too, with Kanemoto rolling through his own frankensteiner into an ankle hold to submit Takaiwa. Everything I want out of a sub-15:00 junior heavyweight match.

Hirooki Goto vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 1/4/18)

Incredible performances from both men in a no-nonsense contest that really played to their individual strengths. Minoru Suzuki was at his most callous without the Suzuki-goons bringing him down, and Hirooki Goto did a fantastic job of selling that classic Suzuki sadism. In a night that was mostly about trying to outdo the overdone, this was simple, brutal, and under twenty minutes. My kind of my match. Immediately, they stagger each other with hard slaps to the face before Suzuki grabs the sleeper and hangs Goto from the turnbuckle with it -- the visual of Goto's body going limp in the corner and lying motionless on the mat was unbelievable. Suzuki doesn't let up, throwing Goto out of the ring, cracking him with a chair, then swatting him in the face while he's down. Goto tries fighting back but Suzuki only cackles and levels him with an elbow. I loved how the sleeper hold > Gotch piledriver set-up played into the match, and Suzuki connects with one of the most awesome dropkicks I've seen in quite some time. The way he unloads on poor Goto with that never-ending combination of slaps and jabs, busting open his lip...so so good. Goto is finally able to build some momentum heading into the finishing stretch, reversing the top rope sleeper into a super Ushigoroshi. He hammers Suzuki with elbows, stopping him mid-swing with a lunging headbutt, before putting him down for the count with the GTR. My current 2018 MOTY, kiddos.

Kensuke Sasaki vs. Satoshi Kojima (NJPW, 3/19/00)

Although it's missing six or seven minutes of action, this is such a great match with a concise and engaging story, good selling from both guys, and an exceptional performance from Satoshi Kojima. It opens with Kojima hitting a diving elbow drop onto Sasaki, slickly countering a lariat attempt with a Koji Cutter, and then hammering on Sasaki's knee with some grunty legwork, which includes these awesome diving chopblocks. After he delivers an awkward Koji Cutter off the apron, Kojima hangs Sasaki in the tree of woe and lariats the fuck out of his knee. Then he hits a top rope Koji Cutter -- I mean, they're coming from every angle. My favorite moment of the match comes after Sasaki withstands Kojima's lariat and straight up punches him in the face. Chono and crew jump the apron like "What the fuck, ref?!" but Sasaki doesn't care and punches Kojima again. He starts to build some momentum, hitting a frankensteiner and locking on the sasori-gatame but he can't maintain it due to the knee damage. They ragdoll each other with back-and-forth German suplexes and one count lariats. Kojima's able to counter the Northern Lights Bomb with an armbar takedown but when he tries to go back to the leg, he just collapses in exhaustion. So good. He then tries for his own Northern Lights Bomb but can't do it, so Sasaki shows him how it's done and then polishes him off with the short-arm lariat. Recommend!

Rick & Scott Steiner vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW, 5/31/91)

This was a STEINER BROTHERS tag team match, with little finesse but lots of discomfort for the opposition. To open, they’ve got Kensuke Sasaki on the rocks, slamming and suplexing and clobbering away, slanging their meathooks in between fresh tags. When Kensuke’s finally able to turn it around, does he make the hot tag? Hell nah, dude, he puts Scott in the Scorpion Deathlock! And then he gets dropped with a tiger driver and one of Rick’s ugly slams. But when Hase does get that hot tag, oh baby, he runs straight into a tilt-a-whirl slam and a Samoan drop off the top rope.  He’s able to deliver a uranage and the Northern Lights suplex hold but Rick breaks it up and it’s all downhill from there, as Scotty hits a Doomsday DDT and botches a frankensteiner for the win.

Genichiro Tenryu vs. Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW, 1/4/00)

Can’t beat watching these two big boys lobbing knuckles at each other. When Tenryu tries backing Sasaki into a corner, Sasaki straight up pops him with a couple of shots, knocking him on his ass. The referee’s like “what the fuck did you do, Kens-kay?” and Tenryu tries firing back with his old man jabs but Sasaki pops him again. He stays on him with punches in the ropes, throwing in a couple of chops, but Tenryu finally jabs and chops Kensuke down before collapsing himself. Tenryu puts him back in the corner and goes to town on his chest with more chops before it’s bombs away -- a spider German suplex, a powerbomb, a snap brainbuster. Tenryu even tries to get fancy with a frankensteiner but Sasaki slams him down and delivers a frankensteiner of his own. When they’re throwing bombs, they’re smacking each other around in these ugly bar fight exchanges but Kensuke proves in the end that his bombs are a little bit bigger, as he drops Tenryu with not one but two Northern Lights Bombs to win the title.

Jushin Liger vs. Owen Hart (NJPW, 4/28/91)

Having not seen a lot of Owen Hart in Japan, he comes off as a good fit and a natural heel, shooting off a slap early on. After some of that early 1990's junior chain rasslin', Liger teases some matwork before Owen takes over on offense. I guess I never realized Owen was such a suplex machine, but he busts out plenty of pretty ones here, including a gutwrench, a German, a belly-to-belly, and a double arm. After Liger no sells a tombstone piledriver, he hits a superplex and the Liger Bomb for three. A cool exhibition and showcase for Owen, who took most of this match, aside from a last minute win by Liger. I'd love to see more of Owen Hart in Japan.

Yuji Nagata vs. Kazunari Murakami (NJPW, 1/4/06)

This didn't quite hit the same highs as their 2002 match, but it was still fun for the most part, especially in the back half. It's kind of a mess to start as they scramble around until Nagata's able to fire off an Exploder after dodging a penalty kick. Nagata's kicks and knees look good, and he's able to bust Murakami's mouth with a knee on the outside...but on the flip, some of his strikes look weak as hell. Of course, it wouldn't be a Murakami match without blood and the image of it dripping out of his mouth is rather frightening. Nagata unloads on him in the final few minutes, hitting a brainbuster and a head kick. Murakami's gassed at this point, desperately swinging for the fences and missing, which allows Nagata to hit a nasty backdrop, followed by the backdrop hold for the pinfall.

Yuji Nagata vs. Kazunari Murakami (NJPW, 12/12/02)

One of the most interesting aspects of any Kazunari Murakami match is watching how his opponents manage his rabid dog-style in the ring, and for the most part, the strategy is predictable: let the dog tire himself out and then sink in a submission hold. Yuji Nagata, IWGP Heavyweight Champion, uses the same approach, absorbing Murakami's wild swings and stomps before taking control of the situation with a suplex and finding some leverage on the ground. Of course, when jerkface Murakami's able to get an armbar takedown, he refuses to let go in the ropes, which leads to some shenanigans on the outside.

When Nagata's returned to the ring, he's a red mess and Murakami continues punishing him on the mat, at one point, licking Nagata's blood from his forearm because why not? Nagata dripping blood while Murakami's wrenching back with the facelock is quite the visual. Nagata's finally had it and he lays into Murakami with some good looking knees and starts disarming him with his patented reverse armbar, breaking it down in between holds with armbreakers on repeat or stripping the elbow pad and stomping away. In one final act of desperation, Murakami tries to sneak in a sleeper hold off the interference, foaming at the mouth (not literally) as he tries to defeat Nagata. But Nagata dumps him with a belly-to-back suplex, then using the armbreakers to set-up three consecutive wrist-clutch Exploders to put down Murakami. Pretty great match.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi (NJPW, 11/5/17)

I both love and hate that Hiroshi Tanahashi still primps his new haircut like the lion's mane that once so beautifully adorned his head. I can't remember if this match was better than their G1 Climax bout...at the very least, they were quite similar in structure. A lot of "your good, I'm better, no, wait, I'm the best"-ing around to open before Tanahashi settles into to working Ibushi's leg in classic Tanahashi fashion. You know, lots of legwhips. One area that was a marked improvement from the G1 match-up was Ibushi's selling. When he tries to get fresh with his standing moonsault, his leg gives out on the landing when Tanahashi rolls out of the way. Tanahashi, working that veteran ace style, does a good job of cutting off Ibushi's momentum by targeting the injured leg but Ibushi gets his comeback in the form of a somersault kick that stuns Tanahashi, allowing a run of offense that includes a lawn dart in the corner and a swan-dive German suplex. Unsurprisingly, the highlight of the match for me was that pissy slap, palm thrust, boot exchange, with Ibushi seizing Red Shoes' wrist and continuing to snap off kicks at Tanahashi in the corner like a shithead. Alas, Tanahashi survives the Last Ride powerbomb and alludes the final knee strike, planting Ibushi with a slingblade and a dragon suplex hold before putting him away with back-to-front High Fly Flows. A simple story with good selling, a few fiery exchanges, and enough big spots to satisfy without becoming too self-indulgent. Good stuff.