Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Takashi Iizuka (NJPW, 12/13/90)

A hot blast of tag team action featuring power babies Iizuka and Sasaki, Koshinaka’s booty-based offense, and Hase swanking the place up -- loved his early mat exchange with Koshinaka. He’s such a dick here, it’s fantastic. After a fairly pedestrian start, with Iizuka established as the underdog, he and Koshinaka try working over Hase’s leg but Hase escapes Iizuka’s shitty leglock with some well-placed boots and flattens him with an awesome rolling heel kick. The fans aren’t happy about Iizuka getting bullied but Hase doesn’t care and sits back all cool-like with a killer crab hold. When Koshinaka gets the big tag, he hip attacks his way to a brutal powerbomb on Hase. Izuka’s able to hit the BLIZZARD SUPLEX HOLD, his greatest contribution to the game, but Hase comes in and nonchalantly kicks out his leg on the bridge. Fuck yes. The finishing stretch becomes quite the suplex party, with Koshinaka scoring a nearfall off a dragon suplex hold and Hase countering Iizuka’s lariat with the uranage. In the end, however, it’s baby Kensuke that comes away with the win after a judo throw on Iizuka.

Masahito Kakihara vs. Shiro Koshinaka (UWFi, 5/27/96)

Started hot, finished hot, meandered somewhere in the middle, but seeing Koshinaka in the UWFi setting is…entertaining, to say the least. His shoot kicks aren’t quite up to snuff but he’s good at sneaking those knees in. Kaki smacks him silly on the ropes, begging Koshinaka on, and Shiro’s like “you serious?”. Kicks aside, Koshinaka’s pro-wrestling offense looks pretty brutal, from his odd but gnarly brainbuster, his backdrop suplex, and the jackknife powerbomb finish. Kaki’s kicks are once again his main source of offense and he’s able to take down Koshinaka a number of times with them, but he supplements his quick feet with lariats and armbars. Nothing does the trick, however, as Shiro shimmies out of the last armbar and goes on to hit his classic hip attack to set up the finish.

Nobuhiko Takada & Akira Maeda vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Keiji Mutoh (NJPW, 3/26/87)

This was a whirlwind of non-stop, no nonsense action, with plenty of stiff kicks and suplexes from Team UWF. I mean, the selling is non-existent but there's little to no downtime. This builds from their 3/20 match with Takada being a little more on the ball when it comes to Koshinaka's wiliness. After Koshinaka catches a foot, Takada slaps his way free and blasts him with a back kick to the grill. Maeda suplexes everyone around the ring, including dumping Koshinaka on his noggin with a belly-to-belly. Mutoh pulls off the moonsault press for a fired up crowd but it's not enough to beat the strikers. Koshinaka tries for a few roll-ups but Takada is able to counter an attempt with a cross kneebar and Koshinaka has no choice but to tap out. A fun, suplex-happy match with everyone poppin' up and hittin' moves.

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Shiro Koshinaka (NJPW, 2/5/87)

This is a low-burning match turned to a blaze by the finish, with wild execution and an air of bitterness. The tension between the two is ever-present as they work to find an opening, bursting with slaps and kicks in moments of frustration. Offensively, they're all over the place, with suplexes and tombstones. Takada's kicks are especially on point but Koshinaka is able to take him down with the single leg crab, dragging him back to the middle when Takada gets too close to the ropes. He blocks the enziguri attempt and hits a backbreaker followed by a German suplex hold for two. The referee is ridiculous here, falling all over himself during the counts. Takada stays on the ground for a while, focusing on Koshinaka's arm. When Koshinaka doesn't give up, he fires off a great backdrop and the bridge on his dragon suplex hold is insane. I loved Koshinaka countering the chickenwing by attacking Takada's fingers and working the hand to the finish, ultimately forcing Takada to submit after enduring a barrage of kicks. The pacing is odd but it works for the most part. Koshinaka's selling was good throughout and while Takada blew off some of Shiro's offense, his selling at the end with the hand was great stuff.

Nobuhiko Takada vs Shiro Koshinaka (NJPW, 8/5/86)

The young Shiro Koshinaka here looks strikingly like a present-day Isami Kodaka. Lost dad? This match was a blast. I love how he no sells Takada’s high kick early on so he can tie him up in the ropes and give him a good smack. They maneuver for leg control until Takada backs out and starts unloading with the kicks, catching Shiro with a foot to the face. Takada’s kicks look brutal and Koshinaka’s selling is terrific, at one point dropping like a bag of flour. There’s some sloppiness to the match, especially with some of the pin attempts, but it doesn’t take too much away from the total package. They fire off some bigger offense, Takada with his jumping tombstone and Koshinaka with a German suplex hold after landing some booty attacks. As Takada tries to submit Koshinaka, first with the arm, then the leg, tension starts to build. They start kicking at each other while Takada’s got the kneebar on and then they just explode into a maelstrom of vicious slaps. Koshinaka builds momentum heading into the finish but he misses the diving headbutt and Takada comes after him with those stiff kicks. After a full nelson suplex hold isn’t enough to put him away, Takada locks in the crossface chickenwing for the submission victory.