Sano vs Liger, IWGP jr. title, New Japan 1/31/90. In their third match in September, Sano retained the junior title with a tiger suplex. This, the fourth and final match, builds off the first three matches and adds tons of intensity. Liger debuts the second and 'main' Liger outfit. Liger busts out crazy high-flying moves that he dropped a few years later. Undeniable must-see.

Takada vs Yamazaki, UWF 2/9/90. Pretty much a shoot-style sprint, with all kinds of point action and some dandy exchanges.

Jumbo & Yatsu vs Kengo Kimura & Kido, NJ 2/10/90. New Japan versus All Japan, one night only! CRAZY CRAZY HOT CROWD at Tokyo Dome. Ridiculous heat for everything.

Tenryu & Tiger Mask (Misawa) vs Choshu & George Takano, NJ 2/10/90. Surface-of-the-sun level heat, tons of bombs and hate, weak '80s-style non-finish. Two out of three ain't bad, it's GREAT.

Liger vs Owen Hart, NJ 2/24/90. Imagine this: Liger and Owen Hart. Wrestling each other in their athletic prime. Yessir!

Suzuki vs Nakano, UWF 2/27/90. Oh man is there all kinds of hatred in this. Suzuki is GREAT and Nakano brings it too.

Takada vs Fujiwara, UWF 2/27/90. Fujiwara is off the charts, bouncing around like he's not old enough to be Takada's grandfather.

Fujiwara vs Yamazaki, UWF 4/15/90. Shoot-style that's mat-focused and over 15 minutes is typically not my cup of tea. However, I make an exception for these two, since they deliver all kinds of nifty counters and cool submission setups. Plus, when they DO go to strikes, they aren't playing patty-cake.

Yamazaki vs Nakano, UWF 5/4/90. Nakano has no chance, right? But the match keeps going, and he keeps finding openings, and the crowd gets behind him...

Choshu vs Hashimoto, NJ 5/28/90. I believe this is part of a singles tournament. I *know* this is part of a heated rivalry which stretched out over many years and consisted (at least through the '90s) of no-nonsense hard-hitting bouts that always could go either way.

Takada vs Nakano, UWF 5/28/90. Nakano is shorter, lighter, fatter, and loses most of the time. Takada is Takada. Nakano fights until he runs out of gas and keeps trying anyway, eventually landing some big shots. I love me some Nakano.

Mutoh & Chono vs Hashimoto & Masa Saito, NJ 6/26/90. MuCho took the tag titles from Hash & Masa in April. Now comes a bigger and better rematch, albeit in a non-title setting. Masa delivers as only he can, and the finish is the sort of thing you'd more expect in the US (meaning it comes as a pleasant surprise).

Bull Nakano vs Manami Toyota, All Japan Women 7/21/90. Bull is the monster veteran, while Toyota has yet to fully develop her array of suplexes. Thus young Manami is a big underdog, and she has to try and sneak a pinfall in order to survive. If that pin doesn't come, she's gonna DIE.

Tenryu vs George Takano, SWS 10/19/90. Takano pinned Tenryu with a German suplex in a tag the night before, and opens things up by EATING TENRYU ALIVE with superior speed. Short (by Japan main event standards) and sweet (by any standards). Note the bizarre production qualities like an ultra low-end clock in the corner of the screen and incredibly awkward shots of announcers. But don't let that distract you from the match!

Mutoh & Chono vs Hase & Sasaki, IWGP tag titles, New Japan 11/1/90. Hase & Sasaki are huge underdogs. Hase at this point has recently upgraded from the junior division, and Sasaki has accomplished next to nothing of significance. Mutoh & Chono have been groomed to be main-eventers and company cornerstones, which of course happened. Thus the match has two things: lots of face heat for the underdog team, and a bit of overconfidence from the team I've dubbed 'MuCho'. The end result is one of the better tag title matches NJ has ever seen.

Hase & Sasaki vs Koshinaka & Iizuka, tag titles, NJPW 12/13/90. The month before, Hase and Sasaki were loveable underdogs. Now they're arrogant champs. The transition might seem abrupt but who am I to argue with what works? HOT finishing run.

Sano vs Masa Funaki, SWS 4/1/91. Funaki figures Sano isn't nearly ugly enough and repeatedly chucks palm strikes at his mush. They had a match two days before where Funaki won with a suplex followed by a cross-armbreaker. 123 MB.

Liger vs Owen Hart, New Japan, Super Juniors '91, 4/28/91. Note: not the final!

Tamura vs Kakihara, UWFi 5/10/91. The first UWFi bout, and both of these youngsters look great.

Fujiwara vs Wilkins, PWFG 5/19/91. Wilkins is solid, but this is one of those Fujiwara matches where he just Does Stuff and it's good because he's Fujiwara.

Anjoh vs Tamura, UWFi 7/3/91. A gentleman named Tabe created two 'Best of Tamura' sets, which is where pretty much all the Tamura footage I'm hosting comes from. The complilation is a mix of 'best bouts' and 'important moments'. It is not 'every good Tamura match'. I can prove that because it doesn't include this match, which I had to buy the full show for (from Tabe) (for a very reasonable price) (no really, look him up). ANYWAY. This match frigging rules a whole lot. Tamura is incredible, the crowd is incredible, and there's even some storytelling as spunky young Tamura gets fired up and manages to keep hanging with the more experienced Anjoh.

Vader vs Hashimoto, NJ 7/19/91. Similar to their '89 battle in that Vader's arm is a target and they hit each other a lot. Different in that Vader is all about punching Hashimoto directly in the face, and that it goes a bit long for two tubby dudes in a probably hot building. Face punching outweighs occasional sluggishness.

Sano vs Minoru Suzuki, PWFG 7/26/91. Top of the line shoot-style, plenty of strikes that do not strike me as fun to be on the receiving end of.

Tenryu & Fuyuki vs Yatsu & Nakano, SWS 7/26/91. Chunky heavyweights who hate each other. So you can tell Tenryu is in charge. That's a good thing.

Choshu vs Hashimoto, NJ G-1 Climax 1991. Handheld, but quite watchable. Hash lays a huge beating on the king of lariats.

Vader vs Mutoh, NJ G-1 Climax 1991. Handheld but very watchable. Great match, and a preview of the Vader vs Sting bouts. Vader dishes out some shots that can be heard by the handheld camera, which isn't close to the ring. Quite the finishing run. I'd put this in the top 5 of Mutoh singles matches, and the only reason this isn't super-famous is that it might not have been taped by the company. If it was I'm assuming it would have aired on an episode of Classics. Even the post-match is memorable!

Chono vs Hashimoto, G-1 Climax '91 Semi-Final, New Japan 8/11/91. They went to a draw earlier, and now have a tie-breaker to determine who goes to the final. I really love the last third or so of this, with each man methodically building to his trademark finisher. 128 MB.

Chono vs Mutoh, G-1 Climax '91 Final, New Japan 8/11/91. Easily among the best NJ heavyweight matches of the decade, and quite likely the best singles match from either man's career. Special deluxe cap from NJ Classics, very much must-have.

Fujiwara vs Lato Kirawarik, PWFG 8/23/91. This is a match that almost defies explanation. Lato is a big dude who doesn't look to have much in the way of training, so Fujiwara just has fun with him (aside from a couple moments when Lato gets fed up). It's like some middle-aged ex-cop randomly decided to get in the ring.

Nakano vs Tamura, UWFi 9/26/91, JIP. Tamura looks for his first win over a veteran, and he has Nakano beat on skill. However, he doesn't have Nakano's knockout ability. Will the good-looking kid upset the hard-hitting pro?

Fuke vs Wilkins, PWFG 9/28/91. These two match up nicely, and there's a crafy finish in this one.

Nakano & Tom Burton vs Tamura & Miyato, UWFi 10/6/91. Just looking at the teams tells half the story, and both sides play their roles to perfection. It's tempting to write Burton off at first glance as someone who's too bulky to do shoot-style properly, but he does fine.

Tenryu vs Yatsu, SWS 10/29/91. In the Choshu vs All Japan feud, they hated each other. In the Jumbo vs Tenryu feud, they hated each other. And in a new promotion they hate each other. There's something to be said for consistency.

Choshu vs Hashimoto, Greatest 18 Club Title, NJ 11/5/91. Here, let me tell you everything I know about the Greatest 18 Club: it produced this match and it went away when its holder won the IWGP title. Anyway, this match is yet another piece of the saga between these two, and it isn't mindblowing but it's plenty heated.

Yoshida & Takako Inoue vs Hasegawa & Debbie Malenko, AJW 1/5/92. Fast-paced match for the company's secondary tag titles. Features an insane, must-see impact move.

Tenryu & Hara vs T. Ishikawa & Fuyuki, SWS 1/6/92. Main event at a too-big venue; I bet that they heavily papered the arena to fill it up. That results in a really subdued crowd for a really hard-hitting match with a good underdog story. There's maybe too much beef seeing as they run out of gas in a couple spots, but the beef generally works in our favor as they hit each other as hard as they can.

Kanehara vs Masakazu Maeda, UWFi 2/29/92. M. Maeda's career was short and he mostly faced Kanehara in prelim bouts. 'Prelim' in this case means 'mauling each other to death'. Kanehara sure wasn't afraid to throw down.

Hashimoto & Mutoh vs Iizuka & Nogami, New Japan 4/29/92. Iizuka is on fire, taking it to the big names without hesitation and getting the crowd behind him. Nogami manages to hold up his end as well despite a lack of size.

Liger vs El Samurai, BOSJ '92 final, NJ 4/30/92. One of the very definitive juniors matches ever. The best by far for Samurai's career, arguably the best for Liger. Incredibly intense, action-packed, a must watch. 208 MB.

Hashimoto vs Akira Nogami, NJ 6/20/92, some clipping. Nogami won the junior title in '91 in a big upset over Liger. That's the only reason I can think of why Korakuen Hall buys him having a chance here. Man, Korakuen rules so much, and these two go at it enough to earn the heat they get.

Hase vs Sasaki, New Japan 6/26/92. One of those hidden gems that you come across from Japan in the early '90s. Sasaki, who had teamed regularly with Hase, returns from injury looking to prove a point. He gets really aggressive, going after the neck and even choking Hase a bit. Sasaki forces Hase to dish out a lot of punishment or else he'll take a bad loss. And I do mean a lot of punishment.

Han vs Andrei Kopylov, RINGS 7/16/92. The end of the cold war brings us shoot-style enjoyment. 164 MB.

Hashimoto & Hase vs Fujinami & Sasaki, NJ 7/31/92. Heck of a tag match right here.

Chono vs Koshinaka, NJ 7/31/92. Koshinaka: skinhead! These two bring out fire and bravado in each other, including a very unique suplex exchange and a dramatic finish.

Toyota vs Yamada, 8/15/92, Hair vs Hair. One of the biggest bouts for both of them. Action-paced, with a great closing stretch and an emotional aftermath. A joshi must-see. 204 MB.

Takayama vs Kanehara, UWFi 8/28/92. Young, skinny Takayama is a beast when on his feet. Kanehara has a big edge on the mat. Will reach or technique decide it? Kanehara beat Takayama with leg submissions on the last three shows.

Anjoh vs Tamura, UWFi 8/28/92. Long, quality shoot-style.

Kyoko Inoue vs Mariko Yoshida, AJW 8/30/92. This is a decision match in the '92 Grand Prix. Kyoko has the sole trump card in the match, the splash mountain. Both have incredible agility and this sets up a lot of huge nearfalls for each of them.

Manami Toyota vs (Winner of Inoue/Yoshida), AJW 8/30/92. Really good follow-up to the other match, as Toyota is fresh and thus a big favorite, but her opponent refuses to stay down. I'd recommend against downloading this until after watching Inoue vs Yoshida; the filename is a spoiler!

Choshu & Hashimoto vs Hase & Sasaki, New Japan Tag League '92 final, 10/21/92. It's good, though a lot simpler and 'smaller' than one might expect for a final. In some ways this is almost worked like an '80s US tag, with how the middle is controlled and how straightforward the finish is. Less about stiffness (though there is some of that), more about traditional tag structure.

Yamazaki vs Tamura, UWFi 10/23/92. Tamura is a 3 year pro, and thus is a huge underdog. However he's a genius on the mat and a submission can beat anyone at any time. Yamazaki dominates the standup, which in addition to his experience allows him to stay in the point lead throughout. But it doesn't go to points... 123 MB.

Saito vs Orihara, NJ 10/23/92. The start of New Japan vs WAR. Even though this is a New Japan low-midcarder against a WAR young lion, the crowd is ON FREAKING FIRE. Possibly the most rabid Korakuen crowd ever, and that's saying something. Lots of WAR fans there, so it's the most hardcore parts of each fan base trying to shout over each other. The match itself has enough intensity and pacing to stoke the fire, though at times the execution could be better. It does make you want to see more of the feud, and more is exactly what we got.

Tenryu & Kitahara vs Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura, NJ 10/23/92. Aaaaahhhh this match! So much heat! So much hate! So much stiffness! The ringside factions threaten to send this into a full-scale war even though there's barely any room to move because of how packed Korakuen is. Team WAR are sort of the babyfaces in this for some reason, and Kimura is essentially in the role we associate with Tenryu, since Tenryu plays 'the heavy'. Finish is a lot 'bigger' than I expected and probably pushes this into MOTYC territory. The very end of the file is like a freaking movie scene. I Love the '90s. I love Korakuen Hall. I love pro wrestling.

Tenryu, T. Ishikawa & Kitahara vs Koshinaka, Kimura & Aoyagi, NJ 11/23/92. Koshinaka has no problems being a total dick when faced with the likes of Kitahara. MAN is Kitahara hated. Did the guy go on a chainsaw rampage through a daycare or something?

Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki vs Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada, All Japan Women 11/26/92, 2/3 Falls. A certified joshi classic.

Liger & Kanemoto vs Ultimo Dragon & Orihara, NJ 12/11/92. Ultimo recently took the junior title from El Samurai, and Liger has a shot in a few weeks. It's NJ vs WAR, and it's a heck of a match!

Chono vs Hase, NJ 12/11/92. Chono, the G-1 winner, is on his way to headlining the Tokyo Dome. Hase wasn't even able to compete in it. Does Hase have what it takes to make it a contest, let alone manage the biggest win of his heavyweight career?

Fujinami & Nogami vs T. Ishikawa & Kitahara, NJ 12/14/92. What an incredible show! This is the 3rd best match and it's still really good.

Tenryu vs Koshinaka, NJ 12/14/92. Tenryu: "My good sir, you appear to be bleeding". Koshinaka: "Ah, quite right old chap". Tenryu: "Here, let me clean it with kicks". Koshinaka: "Splendid!".

Muta vs Hase, 12/14/92. Ever hear of 'The Muta Scale'? Wonder what kind of wrestler Hase was to merit induction into the WON Hall of Fame? Find out here.

Takayama vs Kanehara, UWFi 12/20/92. Finals of the 'junior league', which refers to experience rather than size. More hard-hitting action.

Muta vs Chono, IWGP vs NWA title match, New Japan 1/4/93. Good complement to the '91 match.

Tenryu & Hara vs Kabuki & Aoyagi, WAR 1/8/93, handheld. For as much as I love Tenryu, I was quite skeptical about this. Over-the-hill Kabuki and always-limited Aoyagi as a team, plus this being a handheld, made me wonder if it would be worth my while. Well, it was, and it's worth YOUR while as well. Aoyagi brings his A-game, lobbing kicks and taking a man-sized beating. Tenryu and Hara I shouldn't have to explain, and so I won't.

Kansai & Ozaki vs Hotta & Takako Inoue, JWP 1/15/93. On the one hand, Hotta & Takako wouldn't usually be thought of as a top-flight team. On the other hand, they match up quite well with Kansai and Ozaki, and they work good together. Korakuen is RED HOT and this is must-see for fans of joshi.

Nakano & Kong vs Toyota & Yamada, AJW 1/24/93. As if this could be anything but greatness.

Tenryu, Hara & T. Ishikawa vs Mutoh, Hashimoto & Nogami, NJ 2/5/93. When I saw this match listed on an episode of NJ Classics, my first thought was "I bet that ruled". And it does, despite Mutoh going through the motions somewhat. Nogami is fired-up and takes it to the much bigger WAR side, Hashimoto shows that he's tailor-made for this sort of match, and everyone on the WAR team delivers the beef. There weren't many periods in the '90s where I would say New Japan was better than All Japan, but this is one of them.

Takada vs Tamura, UWFi 2/14/93. Tamura is a big underdog but he has so much raw talent that he's able to hold his own with Takada. Good English commentary from a UK broadcast. 128 MB.

Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs Fujinami & Hase, WAR 2/14/93, handheld. Got to love the WAR crowd dynamic, with loads of NJ fans in there such that both sides have heat. Hase gets to look really good, and Ishikawa absolutely holds up his end.

Han submission demonstration, RINGS 2/28/93.

Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Kitahara & Orihara, WAR 3/3/93. Koshinaka is not an especially big or intimidating dude, but he WILL punch you directly in the face if you are from WAR.

Hashimoto vs Fuyuki, WAR 3/3/93. Tubby guys who hate each other is pretty much the reason why I host stuff from Japan. Hashimoto beating the tar out of someone will always and forever be enjoyable.

Han vs Kopylov, RINGS 3/5/93. Han, in his 11th match, is obviously a world-class talent at this point. And he got better! As did Kopylov.

Hara & Fuyuki vs Hashimoto & Ohara, WAR 3/7/93. Ohara, who debuted in '90, did not go on to have a good career. He was mostly a sluggish dullard. Imagine my surprise to see him as more than just a punching bag, but as someone who brings fire and effort. Hashimoto, Hara and Fuyuki all know how to bring the goods, so with Ohara holding up his end this match is able to sizzle. It doesn't hurt that Korakuen is HOT LIKE FIRE. A very watchable handheld.

New Japan vs WAR matches, New Japan 3/23/93. Two matches. First, Hashimoto vs Fuyuki, with Fuyuki in full-on heel mode such that YOU join the crowd in wanting Hash to beat the snot out of him. Second, Choshu & Fujinami vs Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa, in which Ishikawa is NOT the guy who drops the fall. It's a combination of two singles matches from the January 4th Tokyo Dome show, which the teams split.

Liger & Samurai vs Ultimo & Orihara, WAR 4/2/93. Opening match for WAR's first big show. Lots of heat, especially because there's a lot of New Japan fans in the stands. Liger is off-the-charts, Orihara is TOO athletic for his own good, cheapshots, good pace, YES you want in on this.

Choshu & Hashimoto vs Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa, WAR 4/2/93. Hm, let's see: replace 1993 Fujinami with 1993 Hashimoto in a match that was already good to begin with. That's the kind of math I can get behind. Ishikawa REFUSED to be a loss post in his last big tag; can he tempt fate twice? More importantly, TEN-R-YU.

Kyoko & Takako Inoue vs Ozaki & Cutie Suzuki, AJW Dreamslam 1. Some o' that good joshi prowres. Cutie....

Hokuto vs Kandori, AJW Dreamslam 1. Not my cup of tea, but I'm the exception because this is probably the most beloved match of joshi followers. Super-intense with hardly any letdown.

Tenryu vs Choshu, NJ 4/6/93. Their January 4th Tokyo Dome match is far more famous, but this is quite a bit better. It's shorter and tighter, has much less downtime and better execution. Can Choshu get revenge and become the first New Japan wrestler to down Tenryu, or will Tenryu's rampage continue?

Kong & Hokuto vs Kandori & Eagle Sawai, AJW 4/11/93. You expect the Hokuto/Kandori pairing to be intense. What makes this tag so interesting is Kong/Kandori, which is two of the toughest ladies ever to step in the ring. Kong brings the FIRE and makes you want to see a singles match that sadly never happened. Eagle is there to counter Aja's size and does so decently.

Toyota & Yamada vs Kansai & Ozaki, All Japan Women 4/11/93. Generally thought to be as good if not better than their first effort, which is saying a lot.

Han vs Nagai, RINGS 4/24/93. Han is such a total monster with submissions. I've never seen anyone be able to just create nasty holds out of thin air at will the way he does. That Nagai is able to find escapes besides just grabbing the ropes (or tapping) is a testament to his ability. 130 MB.

Hogan vs Muta, New Japan 5/3/93, WWF champ vs IWGP champ (non-title). One of those rare 'Hogan actually tries' matches.

Manami Toyota & Yamada vs Kudo & Combat Toyota, FMW 5/5/93. The FMW duo lost the first iteration of this a month before, and are out for revenge in front of the home crowd. First match was somewhat of a letdown, but this is great fun.

Vader vs Nakano, UWFi 5/6/93. Nakano: the shoot-style jobber you can't help but love. Vader: the dude you can't help but love as he plows through jobbers. A match made in heaven. A very pudgy heaven.

Toyota vs Fukuoka, Grand Prix '93, AJW 6/3/93. Slow in parts, picks up at the end. Interesting matchup thanks in part to their many similarities.

Tenryu & T. Ishikawa vs Hashimoto & Ohara, NJ 6/14/93. Another watchable handheld, another good Ohara match. NJ vs WAR managed to make the unthinkable into the normal. Less-unthinkable: a match with Tenryu and Hashimoto being really good.

Hase vs Fuyuki, WAR 6/17/93. Battle of '80s juniors turned heavyweights. What Fuyuki lost in athletic ability from the '80s, he gained in making everyone hate him. Hase has FULL SUPPORT on enemy soil, and Fuyuki is able to hang with him through a good finishing run.

Tenryu vs Hashimoto, WAR 6/17/93. Believe it: this match revolves around limb selling and psychology rather than just stiffness, and is good. Well the "it's good part" is pretty much sealed by the identity of the participants.

Hokuto vs Minami, AJW Grand Prix '93, JIP. Minami is lesser-known among the joshi wrestlers, but she was capable enough to have a heated finish against Hokuto.

Fujinami & Chono vs Tenryu & Hara, New Japan 7/14/93. WAR's top duo takes on two of Shin Nihon's finest. Tenryu wants Fujinami, but Chono will NOT be overlooked! His eagerness to be in the ring is ultimately rewarded by a WAR-style beatdown. As with all things in the feud this match is fueled by hate and stoked by stiffness.

Delfin vs Sasuke, UWA title, title vs mask, MPro 7/24/93. One of the first big matches in company history as Sasuke takes on uber-rudo Delfin. Tons of heat, and Delfin is beyond awesome in his cockiness. 179 MB.

Team JWP vs Team AJW, Thunder Queen Battle, JWP 7/31/93. One of the definitive women's matches of all time. It's a 60 minute iron...woman match, with four 5 minute singles matches and a 40 minute tag with everyone in. Hardly ever letdown, loads and loads of great action, and an amazing close.

Fujiwara vs Akitoshi Saito, NJ 8/3/93. Fujiwara ruuuuuuuules it. His *choking* is high-end. The heel tactics, the selling, the finish, he's just such a genius it isn't funny. Saito does fine but there's dozens of other guys you could plug in and it would still work. BOW BEFORE THE FUJIWARA.

Fujinami & Liger vs Tenryu & Kitahara, NJ 8/3/93. Oh mannnn. Liger: babyface of babyfaces! Tenryu: is Tenryu! Kitahara: makes no pretense of being anything but a complete and utter tool! Sumo Hall: red hot! You: are going to download this match!

Hashimoto vs Hase, New Japan G-1 Climax '93. Hashimoto is a month away from his first IWGP win. He's already had four challenges, and has pinned many big names in his career. Hase? Pfffft. Just a good hand, a midcarder. That much is hammered home when Hashimoto starts throwing the big bombs, including some moves I don't recall seeing out of him any other time. It's like he does a powerbomb just because he can. Yet there's a nagging sense that Hase won't go down that easily... 150+ MB.

Chono vs Hase, New Japan G-1 Climax '93 semi-final. A nice mix of action and strategy in this one.

Fujiwara vs Hase, NJ 8/8/93. Fujiwara won their first match three months earlier with a flash armbar. This one isn't nearly as remembered as the May iteration but I like it much more. There's so much to enjoy: swank matwork, charisma, payback spots, and even hardway blood off a comedy spot (which leads to something a bit more serious). New Japan's Youtube channel has it, so I figure why mess with a good thing? The 480P version is quite nice. If they take it down I'll re-host it.

Tenryu vs Hashimoto, NJ 8/8/93. It took several viewings before I was sold on this match. These are not the most graceful athletes on God's green earth, and at times they overreach what their respective paunches will allow. However there's enough effort, action and drama to make this worthwhile. I see that now. Oh how wrong I was... so wrong...

Takayama vs Lydick, UWFi 8/13/93. Takayama, at this point, had little more than size going for him. Lydick is considerably heftier than average for UWFi, meaning Takayama has his work cut out for him.

Sano vs Anjoh, UWFi 8/13/93. No, they weren't Takada-beating headliners, but these two were as consistently good as anyone in the company. Sit your family down by the fire and enjoy some shoot-style. If you don't have a fire, start one. If you don't have a family, grab one off the street. They'll thank you.

Vader vs Yamazaki, UWFi 8/13/93. Lots of drama packed into a relatively short match. Neat post-match promo from Vader, too. 174 MB.

Toyota vs Hokuto, JGP '93 semi-final, AJW 8/21/93. They bring out the best in each other.

Takako Inoue vs Cutie Suzuki, AJW 8/25/93. Two joshi "idols" show that they have a hell of a lot more than just a pretty face.

Toyota, Hotta & Hasegawa vs Ozaki, Fukuoka & Mariko, AJW 8/25/93. Sprint-y AJW vs JWP goodness.

Hokuto vs Kazama, AJW 8/25/93. I haven't heard much about LLPW's Kazama before, but she's solid and Hokuto can lead "solid" to a really good match.

Kong vs Kansai, AJW 8/25/93. Follow-up from Thunder Queen. Joshi's heavy-hitters throw everything they have at one another. Finish is sorta weird but it's deliberate and undeniably painful.

Hase vs Fuyuki, WAR 9/12/93, JIP. Not sure why they clipped it; the tape isn't that long. To add to their first match, Hase comes in with a very obvious vulnerability.

Tenryu vs Hase, New Japan 9/23/93. Tenryu has been a thorn in New Japan's side all year, running through the likes of Choshu and Hashimoto (and Hase for that matter). His powerbomb has been the death knell for New Japan's finest. Hase, fresh off making the G-1 Climax final, is in the biggest match of his career, headlining at Yokohama Arena. Hot crowd, hot match.

Shimoda, Ito, Asari & Shiratori vs Suzuki, Mariko, Fukuoka & Bolshoi, Captain's Fall elimination, AJW 10/9/93. Dramatic eliminations and, thanks to being interpromotional, it has a big-match feel despite the lack of superstars. Ito and Suzuki really shine.

Kansai vs Yamada, AJW 10/9/93. To say that Yamada doesn't match up well with Kansai would be an understatement. There are moments where Dynamite seems so thoroughly inevitable, you wonder if Yamada has the guts to keep going. Then she does. This is HER home turf and she'll fight until there's nothing left.

Mutoh & Hase vs Hashimoto & Chono, tag league '93 semi-final, NJ 11/4/93. I'm fairly sure these teams only met twice, the other time being in the round-robin part of this tournament. It's a shame, because they mesh very well. This feels like the sort of high-end tag match that is more associated with All Japan. 113 MB.

Bull Nakano & Takako Inoue vs Kandori & Hozumi, LLPW 11/9/93. Let me tell you, this is what I like in my pro wrestling. You get hate, some hard hits, roles being played, a responsive crowd, and it's hardly ever predictable. Nakano and Kandori know how to deliver the interpromotional warfare.

Hokuto vs Kazama, hair vs hair, LLPW 11/9/93. Rematch from a few months before, as Kazama tries to avenge her loss. Hokuto is supremely confident, and I can't completely blame her considering how much more accomplished she was/is. This and the tag do a wonderful job of setting up a big match in December.

Tenryu vs Hara, WAR 11/11/93. Short, hard-hitting and to-the-point: EXACTLY what it should be.

Tenryu vs Hara, WAR 11/11/93. Bigger screen size and higher bitrate, but it's handheld. An interesting contrast.

Hokuto & Toyota vs Kong & Hasegawa, AJW 11/12/93. Yeah, AJW was pretty good in '93. - UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Han vs Zouev, RINGS 11/18/93. So many tricked-out submission spots in not that long a time. Ah, but that's just the norm for a Han match. We also get plenty of surprises from Zouev as a cherry on top.

Kansai, Ozaki, Masami & Mariko vs Hokuto, Minami, Mita & Shimoda, Captain's Fall elimination, AJW 11/28/93. A bigger and better play on the October match, with good pace and some ginormous bumps. I clipped out three five-minute singles matches; it starts with a 5 minute match between the captains, Kansai and Hokuto, then moves on to 4-on-4.

Hotta & Double Inoues vs Sawai, Harley Saito & Kazama, AJW 12/6/93, JIP. AJW vs LLPW action!

Aja Kong vs Megumi Kudo, AJW 12/6/93. Kudo's best non-hardcore singles match. Funny how it's with her best singles opponent. Solid big vs little match and Kong really lays in the backfists to drive the point home.

Toyota & Yamada vs Kansai & Ozaki, AJW 12/6/93. One-fall conclusion to this tag rivalry.

Hokuto vs Kandori, AJW 12/6/93. I prefer this to their first match because they don't do random crowd brawling and stick to in-ring intensity. Also there's some crazy shoot punches to the face, I mean this might have more brutal punching than any men's match you can find. These women are not messing around.

Han vs Pavel Orlov, RINGS 12/8/93. See the thing about Han is that he carries a match in such a way that the other guy looks actively good, as opposed to looking like he's luggage for Han. Who's Orlov? Beats me but it's VOLK HAN so who cares?

Nakano & Asari vs Hotta & Minami, AJW 12/10/93. Young Asari is clearly the weak link. Things go downhill when Hotta punts her in the mouth. Is Bull Nakano enough to help her survive?

Hokuto & Toyota vs Yamada & Kyoko Inoue, AJW 12/10/93. Two back-to-back matches that wrap up the tag league. First, the team coming in with fewer points gets the pin to even things up. Then they face off in the final.

Delfin vs Sato, mask vs mask, MPro 12/10/93. Sato, better known as Dick Togo, is an absolutely stellar athlete for his size. Here, before the wear and tear of the road had brought him down to earth, he shows just how much he rules. Oh and Delfin isn't half-bad either. 137 MB.

Choshu vs Fujiwara, NJ 1/4/94. A matchup that just plan works, as long as it's kept short, which this is. The lariat against the guy who is perfectly designed to counter it!

Kong vs Hotta, AJW 1/24/94. STIFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. 182 MB.

Han vs Yamamoto, RINGS 1/24/94. Can young Yamamoto hang with the lord of submissions? 102 MB.

Delfin, Shinzaki & Naniwa vs Sasuke, Sato & Shiryu, MPro 2/4/94. Michinoku Pro shows its wares at a red-hot Korakuen. Supremely fun match, and once again Dick Togo does some things that shouldn't be possible for a man with his build.

Hashimoto vs Tenryu, NJ 2/17/94. Hashimoto comes in as champ, having progressed since their first to battles. However, Tenryu has an even more impressive accomplishment: a pin on Inoki at the 1/4/94 Tokyo Dome show, which wound up being Inoki's last loss. Can Hashimoto defend the honor of his company, or will Tenryu at long last triumph over Shin Nihon?

Hashimoto vs Liger, New Japan 2/24/94. Heavyweight champ battles junior champ in a non-title match that's still hot enough to headline a big show. Hashimoto takes some bumps you wouldn't expect, Liger is awesome, this is a great match. 194 MB.

Kong & Toyota vs Nakano & Kyoko Inoue, AJW 3/3/94. An all-star tag delivers at ever-reliable Korakuen.

Hashimoto vs Scott Norton, IWGP title, New Japan 3/21/94. About two weeks earlier, Norton pinned Hashimoto in a non-title match with a powerbomb. He did so without even looking like he was ever in serious trouble. Hashimoto's vertical drop DDT is out of the question, his hardest kicks (and he really tees off here) barely faze the barrel-like chest of Norton, and there's no obvious weakness to exploit. Thus Hash has to make one of his own... but can he do it fast enough to avoid taking the same power moves that beat him not so long ago? 133 MB of better-than-you'd-expect.

Miyato vs Takayama, UWFi 4/13/94. Miyato was a UWFi booker who didn't put himself in the spotlight. One is tempted to expect a squash because of the size difference, but Miyato has a significant skill and experience advantage.

Nakano vs Kanehara, UWFi 4/13/94. These two do not exactly flinch at hitting and being hit. Nakano wasn't successful against top names, but against a younger wrestler like Kanehara he's able to slug it out and do well.

Anjoh vs Zangiev, UWFi 4/13/94. For someone who wrestled sparingly, Zangiev is really sharp. Compact and high-end action!

Super Delfin vs Ohtani, J Cup '94. So All Japan has the Budokan booked the same night for the Champions Carnival finals, a guaranteed sell-out. New Japan decides to book Sumo Hall, and have a card with nothing but juniors. And it WORKS. And Delfin tries to kill one of New Japan's own with... well you'll just have to see.

Black Tiger Eddie vs Taka Michinoku, J Cup '94. Wee Taka gets absolutely creamed and it's all sorts of fun.

Sasuke vs El Samurai, J Cup '94. Samurai often gets the brush-off when compared to the Ligers and Sasukes of the world, but not only could he hang with them in putting a match together, he could also hang with them in throwing bombs. Sasuke is the favorite but Samurai has more than enough to put him away.

Liger vs Sasuke, J Cup '94. You might have heard of this one.

Vader vs Kakihara, Best of the World Round 2, UWFi 5/6/94. You can imagine how this one goes.

Vader vs Tamura, UWFi 6/10/94. Really choice David vs Goliath story with a red-hot crowd. 118 MB.

Liger vs Delfin, NJ BOSJ '94 final. Delfin uses his Super Ligerfin hybrid outfit. Liger makes him pay dearly. 154 MB.

Liger, Samurai, Ohtani & Ishizawa vs Sasuke, Taka, Sato & Shiryu, NJ 6/15/94. Fast-paced and fun. Team NJ won a 2/3 falls match two weeks earlier against an MPro team with Teioh in Sasuke's place. With MPro getting that upgrade, can they change the result?

Hashimoto vs Choshu, IWGP title, NJ 6/15/94. Their usual slugfest. Unexpected finish, but it's logical given the way it's executed.

Taka Michinoku vs Jado, MPro 7/30/94. This show featured a cross-over with WAR, so Taka is left to try and fend off the felonious Jado. I had my doubts coming in, given that this is 1994 Jado we're talking about, but young Taka's aerial feats remain impressive and Jado brings some serious oomph to the table when it matters most. 126 MB.

Choshu vs Yatsu, NJ G-1 '94. Former partners collide! Coming into this one I had no idea if '94 Yatsu could still go. The answer: yes he can, and he can survive quite a bit more of Choshu's trademarks than I expected.

Fujiwara vs Yatsu, NJ G-1 '94. Yeah this rules. Two tough guys named Yoshiaki get chippy, bend the rules, but also show that they've got some technical skill. A perfect example of what made the G-1 Climax so special.

Hase vs Koshinaka, NJ G-1 '94. Wow, this is quite the epic. There's times when epic doesn't work, for instance if a match drags on too long or nearfalls get ridiculous. This goes just the right length and has a 'big' finishing section without going overboard. Quite overlooked.

Hase vs Iizuka, New Japan G-1 Climax '94. A battle of submissions and suplexes. Taken from Ring Warriors, with commentary by Gordon Solie!

Hase vs Iizuka, NJ G-1 '94. Video upgrade; original Japanese commentary.

Choshu vs Fujiwara, NJ G-1 '94. As with their great battle in '87, this is compact and very enjoyable, albeit not on the same level.

Mutoh vs Yatsu, NJ G-1 '94. I love Yatsu, roughing up Mutoh and getting fire out of him. Yatsu comes in with an outside chance to get into a tie for first place in their block with a win, which would throw the final night's schedule into chaos. Thus the crowd is red-hot through the closing stretch.

Daisuke Ikeda vs Glen Jacobs, PWFG 8/13/94. Baby Ikeda battles Baby Kane. In a shoot-style match. You can't not watch.

Vader vs Takada, UWFi 8/18/94. Famous match due to Vader being Vader, high drama, Takada having (supposedly) legit broken Vader's arm the year before with a cross-armbreaker, oh and did I mention Vader. 172 MB

Kong & Hokuto vs Kansai & Hotta, elimination, AJW 8/28/94. Quite the heavyweight-style slugfest.

Sasuke vs Ohtani, MPro 9/29/94, JIP. The first fifteen minutes were spent mostly with long, pointless mat work. This picks up at the point when they decide to get things going, and boy do they ever.

Takayama vs Kanehara, UWFi 10/8/94. Gosh is this ever stiff. GOSH I say. No, really. REALLY. Stiff.

Vader & Tenta vs Albright & Yamazaki, UWFi 10/8/94. Albright tosses the big dudes around! Vader and Yamazaki do what they do so well! Tenta doesn't suck! Hot crowd! Get this!

Han vs Kopylov, RINGS 10/22/94. As I referenced with their '93 bout, Han was a proven commodity already. This one has Kopylov bringing plenty to the table, rather than it just being Yet Another Han Carry Job™.

Sato, Shiryu & Terry Boy vs Shinzaki, TAKA & Naniwa, MPro 10/30/94. Kaientai has arrived, and Michinoku Pro will never be the same again. 150 MB.

Delfin, Shinzaki & Naniwa vs Sasuke, Sato & Shiryu, AJW 11/20/94. Michinoku Pro shows its wares at the joshi megashow at the Tokyo Dome. Some overlap from previous tags but still more than worth it for some stellar spots and exchanges and general fun.

Dynamite Kansai vs Kyoko Inoue, V*Top Tournament, AJW 11/20/94. Interesting matchup. Kyoko is no featherweight and has tons of agility, but Kansai is a tank. I didn't know how well they'd mesh in the ring, but they certainly manage to pull off a Tokyo Dome level match.

Aja Kong vs Manami Toyota, V*Top Tournament, All Japan Women 11/20/94. They go absolutely all-out for the occasion, and the result is one of the best singles matches in either of their careers.

Aja Kong vs Dynamite Kansai, V*Top Tournament, AJW 11/20/94. The irresistible force versus the immovable object, the sort of match that was meant to be at the dome.

Sano vs Takayama, UWFi 11/30/94. At this point in time Sano is considerably more seasoned. However, Takayama has one of the better "puncher's chances" in wrestling history, and Sano takes a big risk in choosing several times to go toe-to-toe with the titan.

Yamazaki vs Kakihara, UWFi 11/30/94. The temptation here is to say that this is a matchup between two skilled athletes, but that misses the heart of the matter. Kakihara is on quite a roll, only having lost once in the last year, and he is all kinds of spunky. Yamazaki gets frustrated and pissed off at the upstart. ...AND they're skilled athletes.

Hashimoto vs Hase, IWGP title, New Japan 12/13/94. One of the, if not the finest IWGP matches ever. Hashimoto's strikes are brutal, Hase's suplexes are beautiful, there's good matwork, there's the fact that Hase only got this one title shot in his career, and then there's the finish. Oh, the finish.

Sasuke vs TAKA, MPro 12/15/94. Awww, lil' baby TAKA thinks he can hang with Sasuke. 204 MB.

Han vs Nagai, RINGS 12/24/94. Volk Han rules, film at 11.

Hashimoto vs Scott Norton, IWGP title, New Japan 2/19/95. Two weeks earlier Norton pinned Mutoh to become #1 contender, and then had another non-title singles win over the champ. However, to balance his having even more momentum than last time, Norton has a bit of a shoulder injury for Hash to lob kicks at. Can the irresistable force top the immovable object when it counts yet again? 122 MB.

Chono, Tenzan, Hiro Saito & Sabu vs Hashimoto, Choshu, Hase & Hirata, 2/3 falls, NJ 3/13/95. Fast pace, lots of ill will, and then Sabu tries to kill himself for neither the first nor the last time.

Han vs Zouev, RINGS 3/18/95. Zouev holds two wins in a row over Han, something that just about never happened. Can Han's mat magic finally get him a win?

Double Inoues vs Toyota & Blizzard Yuki, tag title tournament final, AJW 3/21/95. Both teams had to beat two pairs of quality opponents earlier in the night. They don't go overly long as might have been the temptation if they hadn't wrestled earlier, yet they don't show fatigue in delivering an action-packed main event, so this is the best possible outcome.

Kansai, Masami, Fukuoka & Yagi vs Ozaki, Cutie Suzuki, Okutsu & Toyama, 1-count match, JWP 3/21/95. Very, very unique match. Starts off as a series of singles matches with a 5 minute time limit, then after those both sides come together for a 4-on-4 tag. 1 count pinfalls are able to generate effective nearfalls on almost anything!

Ultimo Dragon vs Chris Jericho, WAR 3/26/95. Young Lionheart shows his stuff, though that's easy to do when Ultimo is in there.

Bull Nakano vs Kyoko Inoue, All Japan Women 3/26/95, WWF Womens Title. Witness the spunkiness of Kyoko as it goes against the straightforward solidness of Bull.

Lioness Asuka vs Hotta, AJW 3/26/95. Done with quasi-MMA rules and strikes that blur the line between work and shoot. Finish is crazy. So deeply brutal of a match.

Kanemoto vs Ohtani, IWGP vs UWA junior titles, NJ 4/16/95. Not complete, but still very enjoyable.

Mutoh vs Tenzan, NJ 4/16/95. Mutoh is heading into a title shot, so naturally this is just a tune-up. Right? Um... no. This is 1995 world-beater Tenzan. And wait'll you see the move that sets up the finish.

Hashimoto vs Regal, IWGP title, New Japan 4/16/95. Not 'epic' like you expect from a title match, but 'really good' like you expect from Hash and Regal. Hash works stiff, Regal works snug, and there's even some hardway blood to boot. 151 MB.

Black Tiger Eddie vs Kanemoto, NJ BOSJ '95, JIP. Eddie Guerrero carries someone to a good match, film at 11.

Chono & Tenzan vs Hashimoto & Hirata, tag title decision match, New Japan 6/12/95. The first tag title match for two teams that would lead the division over the next year and a half. This doesn't compare to what All Japan was doing at the time, but I happen to think it's an upgrade from the flashy but low-substance Steiners-style that was the norm in years past. In fact, this kicks off my favorite period for the IWGP tag titles.

Han vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto, RINGS 6/17/95. The file length is such that you can't guess the finish based on it. But you'll be too busy yelling at Yamamoto to tap out to worry about that.

Yamazaki vs Takayama, UWFi 6/18/95. On one hand, Takayama has never beaten a big name and wants badly to take the next step. On the other hand, Yamazaki has struggled for years and can't afford a loss. Who wants it more in what wound up being Yamazaki's farewell to the company?

Anjoh vs Sano, UWFi 6/18/95. These two matched up quite well in '93, and this time they go at it with a faster pace.

Shopping Mall Brawl, Big Japan 7/1/95. One of the unique, definitive things to see in the history of pro wrestling. Bizarre, probably illegal given the property destruction, often hilarious, entirely confusing.

Ultimo Dragon vs Chris Jericho, WAR 7/7/95. A bigger and better rematch!

Anjoh & Takayama vs Kanehara & Kakihara, UWFi 7/13/95. Takayama and Kanehara always bring out the brutality in one another. Anjoh and Kaki were two of the most reliable members of the UWFi roster. Put 'em all together and it's a good tag match.

Hayabusa & Niiyama vs Gladiator (Mike Awesome) & Ooya, FMW 7/18/95. All kinds of fun. Awesome and Ooya and Hayabusa all rock on offense, Niiyama can take a beating, and then the post-match talking (w/ subtitles) is five-stars. Magnifique!

Anjoh & Joe Malenko vs Sano & Sakuraba, UWFi 7/22/95. The team I've dubbed AnJoe is just that right mix of carny and shoot-style that I would not want to mess with them under any circumstances. That said, Sano and Saku are not exactly pushovers.

Sasuke vs Naniwa, Mask League, MPro 7/27/95, JIP. Edited to the last few minutes, which are shockingly epic for a Gran Naniwa match. Includes a really sick bump even by Sasuke standards.

Mike Awesome vs Hayabusa, FMW 7/30/95. Hayabusa has been thrust into the spotlight as the face of post-Onita FMW. 'Gladiator' Mike Awesome has been with the company longer and wants to establish himself as a key long-term figure by taking down the new 'ace'. Hayabusa almost ends his career in this but amazingly doesn't suffer a serious injury. Be sure to watch the lead-in tag.

Delfin vs Sasuke, Mask League, MPro 8/12/95. Sasuke suffers an injury to his hip/lower back region and gets absolutely picked apart for most of the match. Closing stretch is great as a result because Delfin just keeps at it while Sasuke is pushed to his absolute limit. 167 MB.

Delfin vs Naniwa, Mask League, MPro 8/13/95. Naniwa has long been Delfin's sidekick, but he isn't afraid to be as rudo as he wanna be. We've seen Naniwa give Sasuke all he can handle and more; can he pull off the upset or will Delfin weather the storm? 128 MB.

Mutoh vs Hashimoto, G-1 Climax '95 final, New Japan 8/15/95. Mutoh knocked off Hashimoto a few months earlier to win the IWGP title. However, Hashimoto had already suffered quite a few singles losses only to come right back and win in the clutch over the last few years. Both are gunning for their first G-1 win. Will Hashimoto's strength or Mutoh's craft come out on top?

Dos Caras vs Super Delfin, Michinoku Pro Mask League 8/18/95. Ah, the '95 mask league. So good, so good for you. 174 MB. - UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Kanehara vs Sakuraba, UWFi 8/18/95. Hard-hitting, as per Kanehara's M.O.

Sasuke vs Dos Caras Jr, Mask League, MPro 8/23/95. Caras really has it all over Sasuke here, with better submissions and more power and plenty of impact moves. Sasuke's only advantage is that he's INSANE.

Gran Naniwa vs Gorgon Cross (Jerry Lynn), Michinoku Pro 8/25/95, Mask vs Mask. The two who did worst in the league are punished by having to put said masks on the line. For two 'losers' this is a hell of a match. Heck, for anyone. 155 MB.

Sasuke vs Dos Caras Jr, Mask League Final, MPro 8/25/95. Caras has learned that it takes a lot to put Sasuke down, so he doesn't hold back even the tiniest bit this time. 158 MB.

Fujiwara vs Taka Michinoku, PWFG 8/26/95. Coming in I was willing to give the match a chance, but I was very skeptical because how on earth can Taka not get his arm ripped off in like ten seconds? But it works because they effectively use their personalities as well as their considerable skill level.

Aja Kong vs Dynamite Kansai, WWWA title, All Japan Women 8/30/95. The female equivalent of a superheavyweight war. Ten months previous, Aja pinned Kansai at the biggest joshi show ever in the Tokyo Dome, using her mighty spinning backfist. Kansai, she of the hard kicks and crucifix bombs, is out for revenge and wants to hold the top title in women's wrestling for the first time. As stiff and brutal as it should be.

Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue vs Manami Toyota & Sakie Hasegawa, 2/3 falls, All Japan Women 8/30/95. In the mold of the Kansai/Ozaki vs Toyota/Yamada tags, this is thoroughly epic.

Nakano vs Kyoko Inoue, AJW 9/2/95. The last big singles match in Japan for Bull Nakano, and it's a doozy. Continues where they left off in the March match.

Toyota vs Hokuto, AJW 9/2/95. The last big singles match in AJW for Hokuto. This has a much more intense start than the norm for Manami Toyota, and a suitably grand finish. They go all-out.

Hayabusa vs Gladiator, FMW 9/26/95. Finals of a tournament to determine the new champion after Hayabusa vacated the title a few months earlier. During the round-robin portion of the tournament Hayabusa pinned Awesome with a rana. With English subtitles for promos and a lot of post-match.

Kanemoto vs Sakuraba, UWFi 10/28/95. Kanemoto comes in a IWGP junior champ. Saku isn't the Gracie Killer yet, but he isn't a pushover either.

Chono vs Anjoh, 10/28/95. Certain wrestlers shine the most in interpromotional feuds. Yoji Anjoh, far less glamorous than counterparts like Takada, is a case in point. The NJ vs UWFi feud let him rely on his awesome heel charisma to augment his decent if unspectacular skills. This match is flat-out entertaining.

Chono & Tenzan vs Anjoh & Takayama, UWFi 11/25/95. More Anjoh greatness.

Hotta vs Yamada, AJW 12/4/95. The couple of botched spots are made up for by them kicking the crap out of each other non-stop. Good gracious.

Tenryu & Ultimo vs Fuyuki & Kandori, WAR 12/8/95. To say I had low expectations for this would be an understatement. I don't care for Kandori in her natural setting, let alone intergender. Fuyuki and Ultimo are both inconsistent. Yet this ends up being all kinds of fun, between Kandori's spunk, Fuyuki taking it to Tenryu, Tenryu being himself, and Ultimo striking just the right balance when it comes to selling (or not selling) for the so-called 'strongest man in joshi'.

Chono vs Anjoh, NJ 12/10/95. As with their first match, this one is short and heated.

Hashimoto & Hirata vs Chono & Tenzan, tag titles, NJ 12/11/95, JIP. A good matchup in June, still a good matchup in December. Quite the climactic finish.

Mutoh vs Koshinaka, IWGP title, NJ 12/11/95, JIP. The big finish, and I much prefer this to the more famous but very dry Mutoh/Takada title bouts.

Damien 666 vs Gran Naniwa, J Cup '95. Wrestling karaoke?

Dos Caras vs El Samurai, J Cup '95. Lucha legend Caras ties Samurai up in knots.

Liger vs Naniwa, J Cup '95. Featuring deluxe entrances from both.

Liger vs Ultimo Dragon, J Cup '95 semifinal. To me this is the real final.

Rey Mysterio Jr vs Psicosis, J Cup '95 non-tournament. One of their many, touring matches at a time when the matchup could do no wrong.

Delfin, Naniwa & Hasegawa vs Sasuke, Kendo & Shimoda, MPro 12/17/95. Kendo (a luchador) and two of joshi's finest don't miss a beat in yet another fun-filled Michinoku romp. Though I question the wisdom of ever putting Delfin in a mixed tag. 217 MB.

Manami Toyota vs AJW, 12/25/95. Very odd, very interesting match. It's 30 1-minute singles matches, a few of which repeat, starting with young... um... lionesses, and building to the Aja Kong-level ass-kickers. You'll probably never see anything else like it.

Han vs Yamamoto, RINGS 12/29/95. Yamamoto has a lot more experience than before but Han remains Han, able to crush mere mortals with a thought. He's like a shoot-style end boss.

Kanemoto vs Liger, junior title, NJ 1/4/96. Liger's first shot after vacating the belt in '94 due to injury. They go for broke at the dome.

Hashimoto vs Yamazaki, New Japan 1/4/96. Part 1 of a great rivalry. 108 MB.

Inoki vs Vader, NJ 1/4/96. A new, super-sharp cap of this. 159 MB.

Ishikawa & Sho Funaki vs Ikeda & Usuda, Battlarts 1/13/96. Funaki takes a man-sized beating like a man. Man.

Samurai vs Ohtani, UWA title, New Japan 1/21/96. Top five for either of their careers, really cutting-edge and smart and focused and awesome. It's a distinctly juniors-style match without breaking down into highspots for the sake of highspots.

Liger & Black Tiger vs Ohtani & Kanemoto, NJ 2/15/96. I dunno, these four are okay I guess. 127 MB.

Mutoh & Liger vs Tenzan & Saito, New Japan 2/18/96. I wonder why they changed the entrance music for a commercial release. And why they clipped this so much when the VHS release wasn't that long. Oh well, some is better than none. Straightforward face/heel match that has a lot more intensity than we normally see from non-big-event New Japan. Liger's two runs of offense are really fun, Mutoh looks like an ineffectual idiot, Saito does some sentons, Tenzan shows his heel charisma, what more can you ask?

Sasaki, Ohtani & Kanemoto vs Yamazaki, Nagata & Ishizawa, New Japan 2/18/96. After enjoying one tag from the show more than I expected, I was ready for this to be polite technical wrestling. Bland but inoffensive. Instead we get effort on the mat (including a sweet armbar setup by SASAKI?!) and some bona fide hate involving Yamazaki. Frentic finishing run capped off by a unique submission rounds off another good outing.

Takada vs Koshinaka, IWGP title, UWFi 3/1/96. Tons of heat as old junior division rivals hook it up.

Delfin, Naniwa & Taka vs Sasuke, Shiryu & Tiger Mask IV, MPro 3/16/96. One of the more famous MPro 6-mans. Highlight is an absolutely killer finishing sequence. 228 MB.

Liger vs Ohtani, junior title, NJ 3/17/96. Another juniors classic.

Hashimoto & Hirata vs Harlem Heat, tag titles, New Japan 3/20/96. Battle of the H's. Hashimoto crowns Booker with the brainbusteringest of all brainbusters.

Tenryu & Araya vs Fujinami & Koshinaka, NJ 3/26/96. Tenryu hates Koshinaka! Tenryu hates Fujinami! Tenryu even hates Koshinaka sidekick Akitoshi Saito at ringside! Can one man's hate carry a match? You better believe it.

Aja Kong, Combat Toyota & Cooga vs Bison Kimura, Kudo & Kaoru, AJW 3/31/96. Lots and lots of joshi to enjoy. 237 MB.

Tenryu vs Fujinami, NJ 4/29/96. Tenryu counters a suicida in nasty fashion and the match gets ugly. 83 MB.

Megumi Kudo vs Combat Toyota, exploding barbed wire DM, FMW 5/5/96. Kudo, the hardcore queen, must survive the beastly Combat. Explosions are NOT the most brutal thing about the match, either. This is my favorite FMW DM, and I'm far from alone in that opinion. 277 MB.

Fujiwara vs Dick Murdoch, PWFG 5/23/96. I won't lie: this is sluggish in parts and will primarily appeal to people who are already fans of these two. Their unique charisma makes up for the ravages of time.

Hashimoto & Ohtani vs Yamazaki & Nagata, NJ 5/28/96. It's all about Hash vs Yamazaki, it really is. 136 MB.

Hashimoto, Hirata & Nishimura vs Yamazaki, Iizuka & Nagata, NJ 6/5/96. Buildup to Hash & Hirata vs Yamazaki & Iizuka. Normally a New Japan buildup match isn't important to see, but in this feud the lead-ins add a lot. Also it's a good match in its own right. 145 MB.

Black Tiger Eddie vs Ohtani, New Japan Best of the Super Juniors 6/5/96. Like I'm explaining this.

Tanaka, Kuroda & Nakagawa vs Kanemura, Hido & Hosaka, W*ING 6/12/96. Oh baby, this is a good one. Great heat, great action, hectic pacing, and for a couple of these guys one of the very best matches they've ever been in.

Hashimoto & Hirata vs Yamazaki & Iizuka, tag titles, NJ 6/12/96. A great match that's even greater after seeing the backstory. Smart, heated, energetic crowd, this is one of the best IWGP tag title matches. 191 MB.

Liger vs Black Tiger, NJ Best of Super Juniors '96 final. Earlier in the year Liger beat Eddie with a top rope brainbuster. Earlier in the tournament Eddie beat Liger with a top rope brainbuster. Will that be the move that ends the rubber match, or will one of their other trademarks (BT bomb, ligerbomb) be enough? 110 MB.

Ohtani vs Sakuraba, UWA title decision match, New Japan 6/17/96. Ohtani plays to young Saku's strengths, but without going full-on shoot-style.

Ultimo vs Naniwa, WAR junior title, NJ 6/17/96. JIP.

Delfin vs Taka Michinoku, New Japan 6/17/96. This rocks, no bones about it.

Liger vs Dick Togo, New Japan 6/17/96. Liger and Togo in '96 equals can't-miss.

Sasuke & Delfin vs Togo, Shiryu & Teioh, MPro 6/23/96. The Michinoku Megapowers take on Kaientai in a handicap match that escalates a lot in the second half. 146 MB.

Fujinami & Fujiwara vs Takada & Kakihara, UWFi 6/26/96. Fujiwara gets kicked in the face and from there it's ON.

Han vs Nagai, RINGS 6/29/96. You will watch Volk Han and LIKE IT, or you get no pudding. 89 MB.

Liger & El Samurai vs Ohtani & Honaga, NJ 6/29/96. C'mon, Liger vs Ohtani. 147 MB.

Tamura vs Peeters, RINGS 7/16/96. Peeters is a perfect opponent for Tamura. He's better at both the striking and grappling aspects of stand-up, and quite good on the mat for someone who isn't Russian or Japanese. To top it off he's a cocky bastard.

Han vs Kohsaka, RINGS 7/16/96. Han tends to be more mat-focused while his Japanese opponents are more skilled at striking. Here he has a peerless Japanese mat wizard to test his ability. Intense and unexpected finish. 107 MB.

Rey Mysterio vs Juventud Guerrera, WAR 7/20/96. I think you know how this one goes.

Tenryu vs Anjoh, WAR 7/21/96. And of course it's good.

Mutoh vs Yamazaki, NJ G-1 Climax '96. Really, really good technical wrestling here. Much better 'Mutoh vs UWFi guy' than either of the Takada matches. 131 MB.

Hashimoto vs Choshu, New Japan G-1 Climax '96. A match made especially famous by the closing moments in which Choshu lariats Hashimoto as hard as is humanly possible, and Hash refuses to go down, which means they hit full-on. Choshu practically breaks his arm on Hashimoto's chest because it's like trying to lariat down a small house. Choshu's all-out effort here is part of '96 being his last G-1 ever, something he announced ahead of time. Hashimoto, on the other hand, is the champ and the ace, and he still wants his first G-1 tournament win. This is opening night and the winner controls his own destiny. So the question becomes, are Choshu's hardest blows really enough? 129 MB.

Shiryu vs Gran Naniwa, Central American middleweight title, MPro 8/3/96. Despite the silliness of Japanese wrestlers fighting over a Central American title, this is a nifty little match.

Hashimoto vs Sasaki, NJ G-1 '96. The champ, filled with pride but banged up, takes on the bulldozer that is Kensuke Sasaki. Hash > you.

Ultimo Dragon vs Ohtani, New Japan 8/4/96. Part of the J-Crown tournament, and one of the best juniors matches ever thanks to Shinjiro's performance.

Ishikawa vs Ikeda, Battlarts 8/4/96. Hey, speaking of man-sized beatings: these two.

Sakuraba vs Kakihara, UWFi 8/17/96. Slick shoot-styled wrestling.

Tenryu vs Sano, UWFi 8/17/96. Short, but with enough brutality to make up for that.

Liger, Hamada & Naniwa vs Togo, Taka & Funaki, MPro 8/18/96. A 1996 MPro 6-man with Kaientai means you're starting with at least a 'good' match. Throw Liger into the mix and it's that much funner. That's right, funner. 119 MB.

Han vs Kohsaka, RINGS 8/24/96. The rematch. 109 MB.

Tanaka, Kuroda & Nakagawa vs Kanemura, Hido & Hosaka, double hell no-rope barbed wire, FMW 9-1-96. My favorite men's hardcore match from FMW. Fast pace, harsh powerbombs, and a simple but effective face/heel story that leads to a thrilling finish.

Volk Han vs Kiyoshi Tamura, RINGS 9/25/96. The best of RINGS square off.

Kaientai Deluxe vs Delfin/Hamada/Tiger Mask 4/Naniwa/Yakushiji, MPro 10/10/96. The definitive Michinoku Pro match. One of the most straightforwardly enjoyable matches anywhere, ever. It's been posted a thousand times in a thousand places but one more can't hurt and if you HAVEN'T seen it, well sheesh don't wait any longer!

Togo, Teioh & Shiryu vs Sasuke, Hamada & Yakushiji, MPro 10/19/96. Yakushiji bumps like mad, and they bust out a pretty huge finishing sequence. 170 MB.

Muta vs Liger, NJ 10/20/96. You have to remember, Mutoh is the guy who can fly and work a technical match. Muta is an entirely different creature. Thankfully, Liger has a very unique backup plan.

Tamura vs Ilioukhine, RINGS 10/25/96. With Tamura's arrival, RINGS settled into an All Japan-like "any of these guys against each other is good" groove. Ilioukhine rocks on the mat and Tamura is Tamura so this one delivers just what you want from RINGS.

Chono & Tenzan vs Hashimoto & Norton, NJ tag league '96. A match not so much about action as it is about a self-contained story.

Tenryu & Araya vs Yamazaki & Iizuka, WAR 11/9/96. Just booking this match was a love letter through time addressed to me. The fact that Korakuen is chock full of rowdy New Japan insurgents, and that Iizuka gets all fired up for one of the few times in his life, only adds to it.

Sasuke, Delfin & Hamada vs Togo, Teioh & Shiryu, MPro 11/12/96. Can't go wrong with these six.

Hayabusa vs Taka Michinoku, FMW 11/16/96. Taka does his best, Hayabusa does a mix of amazing spots and spotty selling, it builds to some big nearfalls.

Han vs Kohsaka, RINGS 11/22/96. They do a great job of building drama at the end. 102 MB.

Kaientai vs Sekigun 10-man tag, Inoki 12/1/96. A rarely-seen match because the show didn't circulate much. This is the least of the 10-man tags, but the MPro crew really couldn't do any wrong in '96.

Hashimoto & Hirata vs Choshu & Sasaki, NJ 12/1/96. Choshu gets a shot at Hashimoto on 1/4/97 and naturally they go after each other. 104 MB.

Chono & Tenzan vs Yamazaki & Iizuka, tag titles, NJ 12/1/96. Slightly JIP'ed. Good match made very good by classic face vs heel storytelling. 99 MB.

Kaientai Deluxe vs Sasuke, Delfin, Hamada, Tiger Mask 4 & Naniwa, elimination match, MPro 12/9/96. A real treat.

Ultimo Dragon vs Rey Mysterio, J Crown, WAR 12/13/96. Ultimo destroying Rey is always good times.

Kaientai DX vs MPro, 12/16/96, 10-man. This is the good stuff right here, considered by some to be the best Kaientai match of all.

Jinsei Shinzaki vs Taka Michinoku, MPro 12/17/96. Taka tries to take down the Michinoku juggernaut. 133 MB.

Delfin vs TAKA, MPro 12/20/96. JIP'ed to the hot hot finish!

Togo, Teioh, Shiryu & Funaki vs Sasuke, Hamada, Naniwa & Yakushiji, MPro 12/20/96. KDX loves to play the numbers game, but what happens when the shoe is on the other foot? 198 MB.

Tamura vs Yamamoto, RINGS 12/21/96. I love how these two match up. Yamamoto has a lot of striking and submission skill, and Tamura really gets the best out of him. This really sets the table for their next-level '98 and '99 battles.

Ohtani vs Tajiri, New Japan 1/4/97. The first 'spotlight' match for Tajiri, and he makes the most of it (thanks to Ohtani). Interestingly enough, Tajiri is almost 2 years older. Because he first trained in kickboxing he got a late start in the business and is thus the underdog. They keep it short and leave enough on the table that YOU want a rematch... and if you go ahead a few months you'll get exactly that.

Masa Saito vs Great Kojika, NJ 1/4/97. In many ways this may be the worst match I'm hosting, but that doesn't stop it from being very enjoyable. From Kojika's getup to Saito's awesome entrance music to referee Kotesu Yamamoto taking NO GUFF, and the decision to keep it short, I think it's worth a viewing.

Great Muta vs Power Warrior, NJ 1/4/97. I clipped this down to the start (for their very cool looks) and the finish (which had to suck).

Hashimoto vs Choshu, IWGP title, NJ 1/4/97. Choshu's final title shot, and it has a much more satisfying conclusion than their '94 title match. A solid follow-up to the memorable match five months earlier.

Togo, Teioh & Shiryu vs Sasuke, Delfin & Hamada, MPro 1/14/97. Ummmmm... it's good and you should watch it.

Ohtani & Kanemoto vs Liger & Samurai, NJ 1/20/97. Ohtani looks to prove a point heading into his shot against Liger.

Han vs Tamura, RINGS 1/22/97. This one's goooooooood. If you've been skipping the Han stuff, give this a shot. If you HAVE been watching the Han stuff then you want every second of this. 112 MB.

Kanemoto & Jericho vs Liger & Samurai, NJ 1/29/97. Kanemoto is coming for Liger; can Lionheart hold up his end?

Norton & Bagwell vs Sasaki & Kojima, NJ 1/29/97. It goes less than 10 minutes so there isn't much downtime, and there's a lot of fun. 1997 Kojima versus Buff Bagwell is way way better than I expected.

Liger & Samurai vs Ohtani & Kanemoto, NJ 2/8/97, JIP. Both Ohtani and Kanemoto have a point to prove heading into singles matches with Liger.

Liger vs Ohtani, J Crown, 2/9/97. One of Ohtani's three defining performances. A story of pride and determination. A must-see.

Hashimoto vs Yamazaki, IWGP title, New Japan 2/16/97. This is great. Hard-hitting, good submission work, nice strategy by Yamazaki, well-paced, I don't think a hell of a lot more can be asked for here.

Togo vs Yakushiji, MPro 3/1/97. Solid match based on a big vs little formula. 130 MB.

Super Delfin vs Shiryu, MPro 3/1/97. Delfin was long since a big-shot, but young Kaz Hayashi? Not so much. This was Shiryu's big chance and he could show he was on par with the rest of his stablemates, instead of an also-ran. 156 MB.

Manami Toyota vs Kaoru Ito, AJW 3/23/97, JIP. Ito has been an undercard wrestler since debuting in '89, working hard but somewhat stuck in place. '97 was her breakout year, and this was a huge opportunity that she makes the most of.

Kohsaka vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto, RINGS 4/4/97. Tons of choice matwork. Yoshihisa is very underrated; he's good on his feet and on the ground. This is in the same vein as either of them vs Tamura.

Kudo vs Ozaki, no-rope barbed wire deathmatch, FMW 4/18/97. A few minutes are clipped out. The top ladies of hardcore do battle!

Ohtani vs Tajiri, New Japan BOSJ '97. Lil' Tajiri reprazentin' Big Japan in Shin Nihon's hood. Ohtani ain't got time for fools, tho.

Kanemoto vs Takaiwa, BOSJ '97. They dish out an incredible amount of punishment.

Tamura vs Zouev, RINGS 5/21/97. Zouev is yet another mat wizard from Russia. Tamura is... um... Tamura. So that means it's good.

Kanemoto vs Naniwa, NJ BOSJ '97, JIP. Oh man, this rocks. HATE! MASK RIPPING! MORE HATE! Feeds nicely into the tournament final to boot.

Liger, Jericho, Wagner & Naniwa vs Ohtani, Takaiwa, Tajiri & Hanzo, NJ 6/5/97, JIP. Non-finalists in the juniors tournament are tossed together, with fun results!

Kanemoto vs El Samurai, BOSJ '97 final. An epic match with some flaws and one of the definitive nasty bumps in wrestling history.

Devil Masami & Jaguar Yokota vs Kansai & Candy Okutsu, JWP 6/15/97. Jaguar is in ridiculous shape and Candy takes ridiculous bumps. This is something I got on one of my first puro tapes and it holds up better than most of its compatriots!

Liger vs El Samurai, J Crown, NJ 7/6/97, JIP. Samurai gets a shot at the biggest prize in junior history. Can he put Liger down, or will he fall to the ace?

Tanaka, Kuroda & Nakagawa vs Kanemura, Hosaka & Hido, no-rope barbed wire & barbed wire spidernets deathmatch, W*ING 7/13/97. Barbed wire bumps, powerbombs, and combinations of the two.

Tenryu vs Anjoh, WAR 7/21/97. Not a masterpiece, but hugely enjoyable thanks to charisma and hatred.

Tamura vs Tariel, RINGS 7/22/97. A size versus technique matchup that takes both to the absolute limit. Tariel is positively ursine.

Samurai vs Takaiwa, NJ 8/3/97, JIP. Non-title match, and a huge opportunity for Takaiwa to beat the reigning holder of the J Crown at a packed Sumo Hall.

Hashimoto vs Tenzan, NJ G-1 Climax 1997 semi-final. The history of Hashimoto vs Tenzan is one primarily consisting of Tenzan getting spiked by brutal vertical drop DDTs. The history of Hashimoto in the G-1 Climax is one of frustrating losses, several of them big upsets. Which trend will continue, and which will finally come to an end?

Sasaki vs Tenzan, G-1 Climax '97 final. Stiffness, blood 'n head drops. Compact match.

Samurai vs Ohtani, J Crown, NJ 8/10/97. The best El Samurai entrance ever! One of the last big El Samurai singles matches! Ohtani's chance to finally win the big one!

Manami Toyota vs Kaoru Ito, AJW Grand Prix '97, JIP. Big match in the tournament and a big follow-up to their March battle.

Han vs Yamamoto, RINGS 8/13/97.

Ishikawa vs Ikeda, Battlarts 9/1/97. So brutal, it's beautiful. Brutalful?

Liger & Samurai vs Ohtani & Kanemoto, 9/13/97. So much to enjoy about this matchup by mid-97. It's unpredictable; they each won one of the last two matches. Since all four are top junior division stars, anyone beating anyone feels important. All of them are very capable in-ring. And they'd become comfortable in being very HATEFUL towards one another. Watch for the great bump Ohtani takes from the apron.

Minoru Tanaka vs Hoshikawa, UWA middleweight title, MPro 9/14/97. A boatload of athletic junior-heavy shoot-style wrestling!

Liger & Kashin vs Ohtani & Kanemoto, NJ 9/17/97, JIP. It really didn't matter who NJ threw into a juniors tag in '97, the end result was pretty much always going to be good.

Han vs Tamura, RINGS 9/26/97. It's Han vs Tamura, you know what you're getting. 107 MB.

Ohtani, Kanemoto & Takaiwa vs Liger, Samurai & Kashin, NJ 10/10/97. First in a big series of matches between the two factions on the tour, and several months after for that matter.

Delfin, Yakushiji & Hoshikawa vs Togo, Teioh & Funaki, MPro 10/10/97. The sweet embrace of MPro goodness, something most any wrestling fan can appreciate.

Ohtani vs Samurai, NJ 10/16/97. I know, it isn't complete. You take what you can get.

Ohtani vs Liger, NJ 10/19/97, JIP. Ohtani comes in as champion, but the titles aren't on the line. I'm pretty sure he'd never beat Liger in a singles match before, and if he can't do it after winning the J Crown he never will.

Ohtani, Kanemoto & Takaiwa vs Liger, Samurai & Kashin, singles elimination series, NJ 10/31/97. This is clipped but almost all the clipping is the opening matchup with Kashin. Great throughout.

Sasuke & Delfin vs Teioh & Funaki, MPro tag league '97. Funaki pretty much rips Sasuke's leg off and beats him to death with it. Funaki: BEAST OF THE MAT.

Ikeda vs Otsuka, BattlArts 11/5/97. Vicious strikes, huge suplexes. Welcome to BatBat.

Sasuke & Delfin vs Teioh & Funaki, MPro tag league '97 final. Return match that continues the story from a week earlier.

Ohtani, Kanemoto & Takaiwa vs Liger, Samurai & Kashin, NJ 11/22/97. JIP. These teams match up so well.

Samurai vs Takaiwa, NJ 11/30/97. JIP.

Ohtani & Kanemoto vs Liger & Kashin, NJ 11/30/97. JIP. Heading towards Ohtani vs Kashin, this match shows how you could pick and choose any members of the rival junior stables and get something good.

Ohtani, Kanemoto & Takaiwa vs Liger, Samurai & Kashin, NJ 12/5/97, JIP. Another good match with these 6, what a shock.

Ohtani vs Kashin, junior title, NJ 12/7/97, JIP. Kashin made Ohtani tap in 5 minutes in a non-title match on the last tour. This is the best match of his career; is it a breakout win or a narrow loss?

Sasaki & Yamazaki vs Hashimoto & Nakanishi, NJ tag league '97 semi-final. During the round-robin portion Hashimoto/Nakanishi scored a big upset in winning the first go-around. Sasaki and Yamazaki are looking to get back in the hunt for the tag titles and can't afford to finish third.

Mutoh & Chono vs Hashimoto & Nakanishi, NJ tag league '97 final. Mutoh made Nakanishi tap to a figure-four during the round-robin. Will the white-trunked young powerhouse avoid the same fate? Will Hashimoto kick enough ass for both of them? Will nWo Japan's leaders make easy pickings of a team that had to wrestle earlier?

Taka vs Funaki, Indy junior title, MPro 12/18/97. Long-time partners collide! Sho is out to prove a point and dominates! Taka is the plucky underdog! Black is white!

Sasuke & Delfin vs Togo & Teioh, MPro 12/18/97. Sasuke has a nagging leg injury. Dick and Men's want to help end his misery... in a way.

Ohtani vs Ultimo Dragon, NJ 1/4/98, JIP. Darn, darn good closing stretch.

Chono vs Koshinaka, NJ 1/4/98, JIP. The hip attack versus the yakuza kick: a war so epic it can only be contained by the Tokyo Dome.

Masato Tanaka vs Mr. Gannosuke, Double Titles, FMW 1/6/98. Really good match that blends traditional Japanese style with 'hardcore' psychology and a nice high-impact closing stretch.

Teioh vs Funaki, UWF welterweight title, MPro 1/14/98. A really nifty technical battle, quite different from what you expect in lucha-themed Michinoku Pro.

Sasuke, Hamada & Tiger Mask 4 vs Togo, Funaki & Super Boy, MPro 1/16/98. Sasuke's torment continues.

Minoru Tanaka vs Tajiri, BattlArts 1/20/98. Tajiri was really in his prime in '98, since he didn't have to hold back for the sake of trying to play to mainstream fans. Minoru is no slouch at this point in time, either.

Ishikawa vs Otsuka, Battlarts 1/20/98. They do an excellent job of taking the 'anything can finish' shoot-style mindset and turn this into a BatBat epic. Climactic submissions, humongous suplexes, it's everything you want from these two.

Tamura vs Ilioukhine, RINGS 1/21/98. Ilioukhine, who would later beat Randy Couture in a shoot, does very well in the biggest match of his RINGS career. And Tamura is Tamura.

Minoru Tanaka vs Tajiri, Big Japan junior tournament 2/3/98. Even at this point Minoru was much more accomplished. He won his first round match with an achilles hold, so between that and the Minoru Special there's a lot for young Tajiri to beware.

Gedo vs Tajiri, Big Japan junior tournament final, 2/3/98. Gedo, who seemed to wind up in every juniors tournament in the '90s, won his first two matches with the frogsplash. Tajiri comes in with an obvious vulnerability, and Gedo zeroes in on it. Best Gedo singles match? Heck, I think it might be the best Tajiri singles match.

Ohtani, Kanemoto & Takaiwa vs Liger, Samurai & Kashin, NJ 2/4/98, JIP. One last time (at least for a while).

Ohtani vs Liger, junior title, NJ 2/7/98. Not complete, but reasonably close. Which means you want in on it.

Liger vs Kanemoto, NJ 2/8/98, JIP. Definite 'big match' feel to this despite no titles being on the line.

Hayabusa vs Mike Awesome, FMW 3/17/98. Winner gets a title shot. Their last singles match, since Awesome got hurt over the summer and was gone to ECW shortly after his return in '99. 100 MB.

Gannosuke vs Shinzaki, FMW 4/21/98. Gannosuke has repeatedly mocked and ripped off Shizaki over the preceeding months. Shinzaki is out for revenge, but to do so he must overcome the current champion's willingness to break any and all rules.

Mr. Gannosuke vs Hayabusa, Double Titles, FMW 4/30/98. A highlight for both of their careers.

Liger vs Takaiwa, NJ BOSJ '98, clipped. Takaiwa put a serious hurting on Liger the year before, only to lose via. cradle. Will he finish the job this time? Or will Liger score a more decisive win?

Kanemoto vs Yasuroka, NJ BOSJ '98. Yasuroka, from WAR, isn't in Kanemoto's league. Kanemoto makes this point very clear. BOSJ tournaments have seen their share of upsets, though.

Ohtani vs Dr. Wagner Jr, NJ BOSJ '98. Some big nearfalls and overall swankiness.

Liger vs Fukuda, NJ BOSJ '98. One of the few available highlights of Fukuda's tragic career. He makes a really good showing and gives Liger all he can handle.

Ohtani vs Samurai, NJ BOSJ '98. One would have hoped for a more complete version of this but, eh, you take what you can get.

Hayabusa vs Masato Tanaka, Double Titles, FMW 5/19/98. JIP to the juicy part. When I say they go all-out, I ain't kidding around.

Ohtani vs Fukuda, NJ BOSJ '98, JIP. When Fukuda died, this was said to be his best match. From what we get to see I can't say I doubt it, because this looks phenomenal. A shame the rest was never aired.

Liger vs Ohtani, New Japan BOSJ '98.

Kanemoto vs Kaz Hayashi, New Japan BOSJ '98. Clipped down but well worth it for Kaz taking a bump that by all rights should have ended his career.

Kanemoto vs Dr Wagner Jr, NJ BOSJ '98 final. Wagner is GREAT in dominating most of the match. Kanemoto does some stuff, but this is pretty much the Wagner show.

Masato Tanaka vs Kuroda, FMW 6/19/98. Ain't exactly Baba vs Destroyer, but it's good for what it is.

Liger & Samurai vs Kanemoto & Kashin, NJ 6/24/98, JIP. Even though it's normally Ohtani in Kashin's place when it comes to matches I enjoy enough to upload, these guys were so consistent that the drop-off is minimal. Granted we don't get the whole match, but NJ airing junior tags on their big TV show was something we rarely got earlier in the decade so let's count our blessings.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kosaka, RINGS 6/27/98. One of the more famous shoot-style matches, this is a fine example of two guys who can just flat-out go on the mat.

Liger & Wagner vs Ohtani & Takaiwa, NJ 6/28/98, JIP. The masked powerhouses are quite the tough duo to put away. Ohtani and Takaiwa managed to do it in March, and they're on their way to quite a lot of success as a team. Still, Liger and Wagner...

Samurai & Kashin vs Ohtani & Kanemoto, NJ 7/2/98, JIP. It's not just that the New Japan juniors could have good matches regardless of the combination. It's also that the results were completely unpredictable. On paper the Ohtani/Kanemoto unit would require Liger leading the opposition in order for the match to be competitive. However both Samurai and Kashin know perfectly well how to beat either of their opponents, so they don't need the top guy to have a strong chance, as the final minutes bear out.

Liger vs Wagner, NJ 7/2/98, JIP. On one hand, Wagner making it to the Super Juniors final should mean he's in line for a title shot. On the other hand, he lost, so he'll have to wait. And a loss here would probably put him at the back of the line. Wagner has enough in his arsenal to put Liger away, but the reverse is more than true. Which masked man will survive?

Han vs Kenichi Yamamoto, RINGS 7/20/98.

Chono vs Koshinaka, New Japan G-1 Climax '98. Koshinaka isn't among the Three Musketeers, but he was always capable of beating them. Chono and Koshinaka in particular had an odd rivalry and were feuding at the time, having traded singles wins and the tag titles over the course of the year. It's the yakuza kick and butterfly lock against the hip attack and powerbomb, a matchup that could go either way.

Hashimoto vs Tenryu, New Japan G-1 Climax '98. They pound the daylights out of each other with chops. I especially like how Tenryu gets welts on his NECK from Hash's overhead chops. Oh and Tenryu also takes a pretty gigantic bump for someone his size let alone age.

Hashimoto vs Kojima, New Japan G-1 Climax '98. Kojima is all spunky and lariat-y. Hashimoto gets pissed off because Kojima won't sell enough. Hashimoto MAKES Kojima sell. I love Hashimoto.

Hashimoto vs Yamazaki, NJ G-1 '98 final. Yet another match that most people like, but took several viewings for me to get into. Hashimoto looks to finally win the G-1 after failing to win it the first seven times; Yamazaki looks to win a 'big one' for the first time. This is arguably the biggest match of Yamazaki's career, and one of his last few notable ones. He beat Fujinami, Sasaki and Chono by submission, and did so in under 10 minutes apiece, AND with a different hold each time. Hashimoto's path, even with the Tenryu epic, was much easier. The match itself has lots of heat, tension and intensity. It's unpredictable, and because of Yamazaki's tapout streak there's a sense that he can end it at any time. It goes just the right length to be satisfying while avoiding significant downtime.

Kanemoto & Wagner vs Ohtani & Takaiwa, junior tag title creation, NJ 8/8/98. An action-packed match that started a big trend. Ohtani and Takaiwa are more familiar and won the match during the round-robin portion, but Kanemoto and Wagner were the BOSJ finalists and would be incredibly difficult to defeat twice in a row. HQ; match-only

Kanemoto & Wagner vs Ohtani & Takaiwa, junior tag title creation, NJ 8/8/98. Less-crisp video quality (taken from the original VHS comm tape) but it has significantly more pre and post-match.

Ohtani vs Kanemoto, New Japan 9/14/98, JIP.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto, RINGS 9/21/98. I'm not alone in thinking this is better than Tamura vs Kosaka, and even less alone in thinking this is darn good shoot-style.

Backlund vs Ikeda, Battlarts 10/5/98, some clipping. Bob Backlund's career was winding down but he could still bring it. It helps that Korakuen goes nuts for him.

Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Liger & Kashin, NJ 10/18/98, JIP. The junior tag champs did fine with the titles on the line, but in non-title situations they were very mortal. The anyone-can-beat-anyone dynamic of the junior division is in full effect here!

Tenryu & Koshinaka vs Mutoh & Tenzan, tag titles, NJ 10/18/98, JIP. I had no idea what to expect from this given that Mutoh/Tenzan is not any sort of famous tandem, and NJ tag title matches often underwhelm. However it does turn out nicely, with a much bigger finish than one normally gets from NJ.

Liger vs Samurai, junior title, NJ 10/24/98, JIP. Samurai earned this with some big singles wins over the course of the year. In '97 he dethroned Liger; can he manage to do so again?

Liger, Samurai & Wagner vs Ohtani, Kanemoto & Takaiwa, NJ 10/26/98, JIP. This is a match I vividly recall seeing in a tiny, low-quality cap in the early '00s. I liked it then and it holds up even better when the video quality isn't actively bad.

Liger vs Ohtani, NJ 10/30/98, JIP. Yes, these two. Again. However it's their penultimate battle, and the last under what I'd consider to be normal circumstances.

Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Wagner & Kashin, junior tag titles, New Japan 1/4/99. Wagner & Kashin bring a power/skill balance, giving them numerous paths to victory. Not sure how this match ended up so much better than Ohtani/Takaiwa vs Eddie/Jericho but there you go.

Tenryu & Koshinaka vs Tenzan & Kojima, IWGP tag titles, New Japan 1/4/99. TenKoji's first match as a team, and what a way to get started. This is fascinating from a historical perspective; Tenryu was semi-regular in NJ with the winding-down of WAR, and it wasn't yet clear what Tenzan or Kojima could do as something other than a sidekick. 'Tenkoshi' (as I've dubbed them) beat Chono & Tenzan in June to get the belts, and Tenzan came up short with Mutoh as a partner in October, so it would be quite the upset for TenKoji to go from zero to champs. Let's not forget that Tenryu is, was, and will be... Tenryu.

CIMA, SUWA & Fuji vs Hoshikawa, Yakushiji & Seno, MPro 1/10/99. Now this is what I call a diamond in the rough. For starters, this is by far the best Crazy MAX 6-man despite taking place while the group was still inexperienced. You have Seno, who went on to become the lackluster Daio QuallT, as a great young lion whipping boy. You have a phenomenal last third, one of the best finishing runs in this style. GET IT.

Hoshikawa & Yakushiji vs Delfin & Naniwa, MPro 1/13/99. Comedy! Action! Fun for all!

SUWA vs Dragon Kid, Toryumon 2/7/99. The nice contrast between Dragon Kid hitting his nifty spots and SUWA being SUWA.

Great Sasuke vs Magnum Tokyo, Toryumon 2/7/99. Solid mat work to start before they delve into the highspots required for it to be a Sasuke match. Sasuke lets young Magu look real good.

Minoru Tanaka vs Masaaki Mochizuki, BattlArts 3/21/99. Two guys who kick hard and fight like mad on the mat square off.

Kanemoto vs Ohtani, junior title, NJ 4/10/99. JIP. This was Ohtani's final shot at the IWGP junior heavyweight title. Can he pull it out at the Tokyo Dome against his long-time teammate?

Sasuke vs Minoru Tanaka, NWA Middleweight title, Battlarts 4/26/99. I was skeptical about how these two would mesh, but the different styles/movesets provide a contrast rather than a clash. It's an effective title bout that really feels like it could go either way, despite Sasuke being a much bigger star.

Ishikawa & Carl Malenko vs Backlund & Yone, Battlarts 4/26/99. Japan loves Bob! Bob loves Japan! And I love when a crowd is so into a guy that they boo an opponent for countering his trademark spot.

Ikeda vs Otsuka, Battlarts 4/26/99. Aside from a couple awkward insertions of pro-style moves, this has everything you expect from the two of them: hard strikes, brutal suplexes, and snug submissions.

Battlarts vs FMW, 5 vs 5 elimination match, FMW 5/5/99. Polished shoot-stylists heel it up against sleazy garbage wrestlers! The first four eliminated are the ones you want out of the way! Over the top counts, but the last eliminations are proper falls.

Kanemoto vs Mochizuki, NJ BOSJ '99. Kanemoto beats the snot out of Lil' Mochi.

Ohtani vs Minoru Tanaka, NJ BOSJ '99, clipped. Hey, you know who were good wrestlers in 1999? THESE GUYS.

Kanemoto vs Liger, NJ BOSJ '99, clipped. Despite being the Super Juniors tour, this was the only league match to headline a show. Kanemoto beat Liger for the junior title in March, so Liger is out to beat and/or hurt the champ.

Tenryu vs Hashimoto, NJ 6/8/99. Hashimoto's return after missing a few months due to injury. Lots of nasty shots and hate, which is pretty much the reason to watch Tenryu vs Hashimoto. Also some parts that don't come off especially smooth because they aren't the most athletic guys to set forth in a wrestling ring... then back to the stiffness. The finish is odd but for some reason I thought "that just might be the finish", based on how the match went.

Ishikawa & Ikeda vs Joe Malenko & Carl Malenko (Carl Greco), Battlarts 6/9/99. Joe's farewell to Japan, and man you wish he'd kept going. This is high-end stuff folks. I love Ishikawa's smug look when he tags in after Ikeda gets an advantage.

Tamura vs Yamamoto, RINGS 6/24/99. Great friggin' fight at rabid Korakuen Hall.

Liger & Sasuke vs Ohtani & Takaiwa, junior tag titles, 7/13/99, JIP. Just the first title defense for the junior superteam as they take on the men who made the belts worthwhile. Liger and Sasuke haven't teamed up in exactly three months... however said match was a non-title win over Ohtani and Takaiwa!

CIMA vs Minoru Fujita, MPro 7/25/99, JIP. Baby Fujita is so spunky and full of fight. It's interesting how CIMA seems like such an established veteran star so early into his career. Heck, Fujita debuted a month before CIMA, but they work it like CIMA is five years older and it seems about right.

Masato Tanaka vs Mr. Gannosuke, FMW 8/20/99. The nefarious Kodo Fuyuki makes for a great heel ref, who is biased but not over-the-top. Finishing sequence is really choice, with a fine balance between high-impact and effective 'sports entertainment'.

SUWA, Curry Man & Super Boy vs Taka, Magnum Tokyo & Minoru Fujita, MPro 8/22/99. Comedy! Action! Drama! A fine little 6-man here.

Survival Tobita vs Ken the Box, Saitama Pro 8/23/99. A spectacle unlike any other. An event unlike any you've seen. A match... for all time. One man. One monster. One mat. One destiny.

Hayabusa vs Mr. Gannosuke, FMW 8/25/99, JIP. Continuing their rivalry.

Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Liger & Samurai, junior tag titles, NJ 8/28/99. Big outdoor show gets big juniors match excitement.

Horiguchi vs Susumu, Toryumon 9/14/99. For the opening part of '99 these two were mostly lost in the shuffle amidst flashier stars like Magnum, CIMA and Dragon Kid. This is a breakout opportunity as they're given some time in the show opener, and they do make the most of it.

Magnum Tokyo vs TARU, Toryumon 9/14/99. Big chance for TARU, who pinned Tokyo with the TARU Driller two shows earlier.

Yoshida vs Fukawa, Arsion 9/26/99. A big part of the reason behind Arsion's creation was to move away from non-stop high impact moves. This match is a great demonstration of the mindset, largely shoot-style mat wrestling.

Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Tanaka, junior tag titles, NJ 10/11/99. Quite the epic.

Naoki Sano vs Curry Man, MPro 10/17/99. Sano: not afraid to murder a fool.

CIMA vs Minoru Fujita, MPro 10/19/99. A bigger and better rematch.

CIMA & SUWA vs Magnum Tokyo & Tiger Mask 4, MPro 11/7/99. Big interpromotional tag ackshun.

CIMA, Curry Man & Super Boy vs Jody Fleisch, Minoru Fujita & Shiryu 2, MPro 12/21/99. A sprint that's all sorts of fun, with a really killer close.

Shinya Hashimoto guest stars on an episode of Ultraman in the late '90s. Also featuring some other New Japan wrestlers.