Andre vs Sakaguchi, NJ 3/19/74. Sakaguchi is FIT! He's got GOOD CHOPS! Andre doing the courting hold is exponentially more compelling than anyone else would be, since you can't throw him off at will (or possibly at all). Sakaguchi's eventual counter is thus suitably impressive. Andre applying almost any hold looks like he can break a dude in half, so even a somewhat random one 2/3rds in is interesting. Crap finish, because that's how it was in days of yore.

Inoki vs Sakaguchi, New Japan 4/26/74. More good stuff from '70s Sakaguchi. He GIVES INOKI THE BUSINESS early, and tempers flare a couple times after that. This is kinda exhibition-y in the sense that they don't really go anywhere, but it's ~30 minutes of sound old-school technical wrestling. Sak busts out a couple things I wouldn't have expected. Also: BIZARRE stuff from the ref, especially towards the end. It's clear the crowd is just as confused about it as me.

Antonio Inoki vs Billy Robinson, New Japan 12/11/75. Billy Robinson by himself equals must-watch. Then throw in the fact that this is maybe the biggest match of his career, and one of the best Inoki matches. Yeah.

Inoki vs Andre the Giant, New Japan 6/1/77. It occurs to me that Andre was big to Americans, but he must have been an absolute behemoth to the Japanese. The size disparity between Andre and Inoki is enough to create a David-and-Goliath effect that didn't come close to happening with the likes of Hansen and Brody. That effect wouldn't mean much if Andre was incompetent, but in fact at this point he was capable of being a giant WRESTLER as opposed to just a giant like most men his size and up. You don't even need to like old-style mat wrestling to be interested in how Inoki avoids being snapped like a twig. As with so many legends there just isn't nearly enough footage of prime Andre.

Inoki vs Andre, NJ 11/9/77. Even basic holds and moves become dramatic when done by someone with the size and *intelligence* of Andre. He knows how to use his size to make the matwork interesting. Inoki's execution and skill level are such that he's credible against the behemoth, which is an issue because the vast majority of wrestlers simply aren't.

Fujinami vs Ryuma Go, WWWF junior title, New Japan 7/27/78. Ryuma Go recently passed away. He's mostly known for taking part in sleazy indies, generally against guys in monster costumes. Imagine my surprise when Dave Meltzer mentioned that early in his career he was a quality wrestler. So I decided to track down some of the matches, expecting it to be decent but nothing that special; we are talking about 30+ year old juniors wrestling. Imagine my even greater surprise that this is REALLY good stuff. Fujinami is the better athlete, but Go is no slouch and he brings a bunch of charisma to affair. Give it a try!

Inoki vs Bob Backlund, New Japan 7/27/78. More hearty old-school goodness. At one point Backlund does something that's half shoulderbreaker, half thunderfire powerbomb. Oh and Inoki rocks the armscissors like a FIEND.

Fujinami vs Ryuma Go, WWWF junior title, New Japan 11/30/78. Good like the first one. Big finisher, but the way it ends the match is... unusual.

Inoki vs Hoshino, "Pre-Japanese" Tournament, New Japan 12/5/78. The diminutive Hoshino, who is the 3rd highest ranked JUNIOR in the company on a good day, gets in a ton of offense and punches Inoki directly in the face. Sure, Inoki could not possibly lose, but the fact that this isn't a thirty second squash is a minor miracle. Hoshino rules so much.

Andre vs Kido & Eigen, NJ 5/25/79. Nobody does a handicap squash quite like Andre in Japan. Really, 3-on-1 of guys that size would be necessary for this to be competitive.

Andre the Giant vs ???, New Japan MSG League 6/1/79. It's supposed to be Andre vs Fujinami, but that doesn't happen and instead we get a bigger name opponent. Andre in his prime was a thing of beauty.

Fujinami vs Rocco, WWF junior title, NJ-in-LA 6/15/79. Fujinami is in tremendous shape and at this point is one of the great all-around athletes in puro history. Rocco heels it up. Rock-solid technical work before a couple minutes of action to go home, and the US crowd is appreciative.

Fujinami vs Ryuma Go, WWWF junior title, New Japan 10/2/79. Go gets his final shot at the title, and makes the most of it.

Fujinami vs Hoshino, New Japan 10/5/79. This takes place in Seoul, and is quite the decent juniors match. But then we are talking about Hoshino here, how could it not be good?

Fujinami & Hoshino vs Steve Keirn & Dynamite Kid, 2/3 falls, New Japan 1/18/80. Lots to enjoy here. Good action, good pacing, sparks fly, and the Skinner/Dynamite team meshes better than you'd expect.

Fujinami vs Dynamite Kid, WWF junior title, NJ 2/5/80. I like this more than any of the Dynamite vs Tiger matches, and I'm far from the only one who feels that way. 156 MB.

Gran Hamada vs Babyface, New Japan 4/3/80. When one mentions revolutionary high-flying in the '80s, one is led to think about Dynamite Kid vs Tiger Mask. Well, here's something that predates them and is every bit as revolutionary *if not more so*. The only knock on this match ends up being the ref, and even then only at the end.

Hansen vs Inoki, NWF title, New Japan 4/3/80. Hansen won the title by countout, but Inoki was counted out after eating a lariat so it was a good win. Hansen brings the stank-tastic offense, Inoki works his stuff in smartly, and the crowd laps it all up. And there's a real finish, albeit not one you'd expect.

Fujinami vs Tony Rocco, WWF junior title, New Japan 9/11/80. Rocco is Italian by birth but he brings the sweet, sweet British-style matwork.

Inoki vs Hansen, NWF title, New Japan 9/11/80. They get chippy with one another, and Hansen does a remarkable job of mixing it up with his Irish whip moves.

Fujinami vs Tony Londos, WWF junior title, New Japan 9/19/80. Fujinami versus Europe, only this time it's faster.

Backlund vs Hansen, New Japan 9/30/80. Backlund... duking it out? Hansen... trying to take it to the ground? A bizarro world match that's enjoyable in its unpredictability.

Tiger Mask vs Dynamite Kid, New Japan 4/23/81. Countless wrestlers owe a lot to this series of matches, and this was one of their better ones.

Stan Lane vs George Takano, New Japan 7/24/81. Sweet Stan has all sorts of cool stuff up his sleeve.

Fujinami & Tiger Mask vs Pete Roberts & Solitario, New Japan 9/4/81. Lots of 'weird' here, like Fujinami and Tiger Mask during the couple months before Fujinami became a heavyweight, and Brit-style Roberts tagging with a luchador. Fujinami and Roberts mesh really well.

Andre vs Hansen, New Japan 9/23/81. Normally I try to come up with my own description of a match, but "real-life Godzilla battle" is too accurate not to use. The irresistable force versus the immovable object has never been so fully realized in a wrestling ring.

Fujinami vs Isamu Teranishi, New Japan 10/8/81. Hm, a match with stiff strikes and interpromotional hate. Odds I was going to like it: high. What puts the cherry on top is some swanky technical moves.

Inoki & Fujinami vs Andre & Rene Goulet, tag league final, New Japan 12/10/81. Non-stop greatness when Andre is in, and there's a finish (!) which Goulet isn't on the wrong end of (!!!).

Inoki, Fujinami & Tiger Mask vs Abdullah the Butcher, Dynamite Kid & Babyface, New Japan 1/8/82. This works because of the matchups. Abby versus Tiger Mask is all kinds of fun, Kid vs Tiger Mask is a known quantity, Babyface can go (as we learned in his match with Hamada), '80s Fujinami can go, and Inoki... well he isn't in much but it doesn't hurt when he is. Keep in mind that over the guardrail is a DQ, which effects any brawling (Abby) and suicide dives (everyone but Abby and Inoki).

Tiger Mask vs Steve Wright, WWF junior title NJ 4/1/82. Steve is the father of Alex, and despite what you might think from looking at him he's quite the top-flight wrestler. This match is no less cutting-edge than Tiger Mask vs Dynamite.

Andre vs Killer Khan, MSG League final, New Japan 4/1/82. This match is brilliant. I could talk about all the little touches you'd never expect, from what Andre yells at the ref to how Khan sticks with a gameplan, but I think straightforward praise is the way to go. This is quite possibly the smartest match from New Japan in the '80s. What it lacks in grace, it makes up for in smarts and making the absolute most out of simplistic offense.

Tiger Mask vs Dynamite Kid, New Japan 8/5/82.

Inoki vs Rusher Kimura, Animal Hamaguchi & Teranishi, elimination-style handicap match, New Japan 11/4/82. Some slow patches, but more than enough entertainment value and heat to make up for it. Rusher throws harder shots than I thought he was capable of. 204 MB.

Tiger Mask & Hoshino vs Kuniaki Kobayashi & Hamada, New Japan 2/10/83. Kobayashi, whose obsession with beating the first two Tiger Masks defined his career, looks to do damage to the original. He's got a skilled assistant in Gran Hamada. Hoshino punches both of them directly in the face a bunch because HOSHINO IS THE MAN.

Choshu, Masa Saito & Khan vs Rusher Kimura, Animal Hamaguchi & Teranishi, NJ 3/18/83. Choshu's new hotness heel group battles the old and busted IWE heel group. Fast pace, crowd heat, crappy finish: it's an '80s Choshu tag.

Choshu vs Fujinami, WWF International title, New Japan 4/21/83. Choshu took the title from Fujinami earlier in the month after working on his legs and hitting a rather cheap lariat. Fujinami doesn't just want his belt back, he also looks to put a hurtin' on his rival. Good action, meaningful submission holds, drama down the stretch; there's a reason why these two became such big stars.

Inoki, Fujiwara & Maeda vs Choshu, Yatsu & Hamaguchi, New Japan 2/9/84. Blood, intensity, and a terrible finish. It's the 80s!

Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Takada, New Japan 3/9/84. Kobayashi represents Choshu's Army, while Takada is part of the overall babyface stable. Thus, they show some fire. Takada does gymnastic juniors spots! A foreign object is used! Nearfalls! Other things! And a bit of a letdown on the finish because "it's the 80s".

Choshu, Yatsu, Hamaguchi, Teranishi & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Inoki, Fujinami, Fujiwara, Kengo Kimura & Takada, gauntlet, New Japan 4/19/84. One of the all-time great crowds from Japan, and plenty of good action. Finalie is somewhat of a letdown but some of the sub-matches are stellar, including Yatsu vs Takada that was previously hosted here by itself, a reprise of Fujinami vs Teranishi, and some good in-match continuity. Part 1.

Choshu, Yatsu, Hamaguchi, Teranishi & Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Inoki, Fujinami, Fujiwara, Kengo Kimura & Takada, gauntlet, New Japan 4/19/84. Part 2.

Inoki & Fujinami vs Murdoch & Adonis, NJ 12/5/84. Finals of the last MSG Tag League, which was part of the then-ongoing relationship between NJ and WWF. Here we have the best WWF tag team, and almost certainly the best team in the world at this point, taking on two of New Japan's biggest native stars. Adonis and Murdoch do everything you want from a heel tandem, balancing shady tactics and credible offense with great selling and bumping. Inoki and Fujinami are effective faces. Hot crowd too, making this a hell of an old-school battle.

Hogan vs Fujinami, WWF title, New Japan 6/11/85. Fujinami looks like a child in there with the Hulkster. Speaking of Hulk, he's all about pulling out things you'd never expect. Fun to see Hogan in the position of being the guy fans pop to see get bodyslammed.

Andre & Tony St. Clair vs Sakaguchi & Hoshino, New Japan 6/13/85. If you watched matches with Andre or Hoshino in them from before this, you know how much fun this match is. If you don't, download those, then this. Trust Ditch.

Cobra vs Don Arakawa, NWA & WWF junior titles, New Japan 8/1/85. Don Arakawa, who is both over-the-hill and a life-long undercarder, delivers the performance of a lifetime in front of a crowd that all but wills him to victory. He delivers a must-see move and some other really fun offense. And... a bad finish. *sigh*

Inoki vs Fujinami, New Japan 9/19/85. A split crowd watches New Japan's best go at it in a technical wrestling clinic. 266 MB.

Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs Dick Murdoch & Masked Superstar, IWGP tag title creation tournament, New Japan 11/29/85. Superstar is Bill Eadie, who was later Ax of Demolition. Opening minutes are slow, but then each team gets a turn working over the same part on both members of the other. Focused, quality technical work plus Murdoch punches is more than good enough for me, even with the Crappy '80s Finish™.

Maeda & Fujiwara vs Fujinami & Kengo Kimura, Gauntlet match, New Japan 5/1/86. The last parts of a larger 5-on-5 NJ vs UWF bout that essentially resets with the final two men on each side. Fujiwara and Fujinami are off-the-charts here.

Fujinami vs Maeda, NJ 6/12/86. Famous for being intense and smartly wrestled, only drawback is the finish but that's the '80s for you. One of the gems and perhaps the top match from the NJ vs UWF feud. 190 MB.

Inoki vs Dick Murdoch, NJ 6/19/86. Good technical work through the body, hot finish. Murdoch was the man and he will rise out of the grave and elbow you in the teeth if you don't watch this.

Takada vs Koshinaka, junior title, New Japan 8/5/86. This isn't particularly juniors-ish, but rather a textbook high-end strong style match. 'Strong Style' in its original meaning isn't about stiffness or head drops, but instead a mix of pro wrestling and MMA techniques. Both of them are technically sound but what makes this match special is the intensity that the wrestlers and the crowd imbue the bout with. Finish is a very subtle but nasty modification on a classic. 167 MB.

Maeda vs Masa Saito, New Japan 5/18/87. Maeda bleeds a lot. A whole lot. No no, you don't seem to understand: a WHOLE lot.

Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kazuo Yamazaki, New Japan 5/25/87, IWGP tag titles. Hard hits, shoot holds, it's UWF-in-NJ.

Choshu vs Fujiwara, New Japan 6/9/87. Super-simple, super-heated, fast-paced, oh yeah this rocks.

Inoki, Sakaguchi, Fujiwara, Hoshino & Mutoh vs Fujinami, Choshu, Maeda, Kengo Kimura & Super Strong Machine, elimination match, New Japan 8/19/87. The unusual teams are a result of an 'old vs young' feud, though Mutoh stays loyal to Inoki. Liquid magma crowd heat, pacing that if anything starts off TOO fast, several great eliminations, and a good mix of stars and role-players. It all adds up to a heck of a battle.

Fujiwara vs Maeda, New Japan 8/29/87. Unique in that it's just a hard-camera shot without commentary. Match mostly relies on their respective striking strategies, though Fujiwara does get a lil' bit carny towards the end, much to my enjoyment. A good lead-in to the tag title bout a few days later.

Maeda & Takada vs Fujiwara & Yamazaki, tag titles, New Japan 9/1/87. Not *quite* as good as the first meeting in May, but good in the same ways. If you liked that, get this. If you didn't see the May one yet, do so. If you didn't like the May one then I divorce thee. Or something.

Akira Maeda vs Dick Murdoch, New Japan 9/14/87. Murdoch is just so good in this, between the selling and paybacks and hate and such. Maeda's no slouch of course but Murdoch is just priceless. 168 MB

Maeda/Choshu shoot incident, New Japan 11/19/87. This is part of a handheld version of the 6-man tag where Maeda shoot kicks Choshu in the face, breaking Choshu's orbital bone. Maeda was eventually tossed from New Japan, which led to the second UWF, which spawned UWFi, RINGS and PWFG. So... this is pretty important stuff.

The end of New Japan's 12/27/87 Sumo Hall show, part 1.

The end of New Japan's 12/27/87 Sumo Hall show, part 2.

Explaining the above.

Fujinami vs Choshu, IWGP title, New Japan 5/27/88. Fujinami's first ever title defense. Interesting to see how many things had changed- and how many hadn't- compared to their first rivalry early in the decade.

Fujinami vs Vader, IWGP title, New Japan 6/26/88. Vader: kickin' butt! Vader: doing focused body-part work that's enjoyable?! Why yes, yes he does. He's a threat just doing whatever he wants, but add in some strategy and the champ will be lucky to survive.

Owen vs Yamada; winner vs Koshinaka, IWGP junior title, New Japan June 1988. Two JIP matches that have quite the hot finishes.

Mutoh, Chono & Hashimoto vs Fujinami, Kengo Kimura & Koshinaka, New Japan 7/29/88. TONS of hate, fast pace, rare to see the Musketeers together on one side, Mutoh has a really different look and is jacked, and did I mention HATE?

Fujinami vs Inoki, IWGP title, New Japan 8/8/88. An old-school technical wrestling classic. Inoki's last title shot. Can Fujinami redeem himself against New Japan's icon? 438 MB.

Fujinami, Fujiwara, Kengo Kimura, Koshinaka & Yamada vs Choshu, Masa Saito, Super Strong Machine, Kuniaki Kobayashi & Hiro Saito, elimination match, New Japan 9/12/88. My pick for best New Japan match of the decade. One major piece of backstory is that in a past elimination match, Fujinami was left alone with Inoki and Masa Saito, and Saito toyed with Fujinami rather than just beat him. The Fujinami vs Saito part is the big highlight, but the match is really strong from start to finish. The finish itself is a neat in that it's contrary to the way 'wrestling morality' normally works. This match was the top discovery of the DVDVR New Japan '80s vote and it's one I think any puro fan (if not wrestling fan) could enjoy.

Murdoch, Bob Orton & Scott Hall vs Inoki, Choshu & Hoshino, elimination match, New Japan 11/17/88. Best match from a very unique round-robin tournament, where eliminations include over-the-top as with the 5-vs-5 elimination matches. Dick & Bob make a good team, Hoshino is still a great underdog in 1988, and when you combine those two things to get Murdoch vs Hoshino content... oh yeah. Also featuring Scott Hall as "The Beav".

Shiro Koshinaka vs Keiichi Yamada, New Japan 12/9/88. Koshinaka defends the junior belt against a young, maskless Liger. Yamada is GREAT in taking it to the champ.

Sano & Hirokazu Hata vs El Bello Greco & Sergio El Hermoso, New Japan 1/6/89. A mix of fun spots and comedy.

Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura vs El Bello Greco & Sergio El Hermoso, New Japan 2/3/89. Quite the comedy match.

Choshu & Masa Saito vs George Takano & Super Strong Machine, tag titles, New Japan 3/16/89, JIP. I clipped a rather slow opening portion out; what remains is really good. The start of a hot streak for George, and one of many great Saito performances.

Choshu vs Hashimoto, IWGP title tournament round 1, New Japan 4/24/89. A very short and VERY heated start to their rivalry. This was Hashimoto's first big singles match, and at the first-ever Tokyo Dome show, so he's got everything to gain and nothing to lose. A bad combination for Choshu.

Fujinami vs Vader, IWGP title tournament round 2, New Japan 4/24/89. Fujinami had a good title reign going, but dropped the belt in order to have a big tournament at the Tokyo Dome. A very risky gambit, especially when you have to go through Vader just to reach the finals. As in '88 they mesh very well.

Hashimoto vs Zangiev, IWGP title tournament round 2, New Japan 4/24/89. For a dude with hardly any pro wrestling experience/training, Zangiev is darn good. He throws a hell of a suplex.

Vader vs Hashimoto, IWGP title tournament finals, New Japan 4/24/89. Hard-hitting AND smart, playing off Vader vs Fujinami a bit. Vader says he got legit hurt by Hash in this, but it's hard to see where.

Vader vs Choshu, New Japan 6/27/89. Two tough dudes who aren't afraid of being violent go at it, so they get... violent. Short and to the point.

Liger vs Naoki Sano, IWGP jr. title, New Japan 7/13/89. Liger in his goofy original costume! The first part of the feud that showed the world just how incredible Liger can be!

George Takano & Super Strong Machine vs Choshu & Iizuka, tag titles, New Japan 7/13/89. Welcome to 90s-style wrestling! After watching over 50 hours of '80s New Japan, this stuck out like a sore thumb. I can't completely place a finger on why that is, but stuff like Iizuka as the spunky underdog trying to hang in a big match, the way it's laid out, and the presence of a clean and SATISFYING finish all add up to a nifty bit o' tag wrestling.

Choshu, Kengo Kimura & Liger vs Vader, Manny Fernandez & Buzz Sawyer, New Japan 8/3/89. Fast and fun. Not only does Liger get his music played during the entrance, but he manages not to get squished by Vader. Sawyer also brings the goods.

Liger vs Naoki Sano, IWGP jr. title, New Japan 8/10/89. The rematch, in full, and it's even better than the first. It might have the best arm selling in wrestling history.

Sano vs Liger, IWGP junior title, New Japan 9/20/89. Sadly it isn't complete. Thankfully it's completely good, and a vital set-up to the finalie of their feud.

Choshu, Chono & Liger vs Vader, Tom Pritchard & St. Clair, NJ 11/1/89. Real real good whenever Vader is in, and passable otherwise. Neat to see Dr. Tom in Japan.

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.

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!

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.

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).

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. 205 MB.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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!

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?

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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?

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.

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!

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

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

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

Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Tanaka & Kashin, junior tag titles, NJ 1/4/00. I enjoy the style difference, as the champs rely on impact moves while the challengers rely on submissions.

Liger vs Kanemoto, junior title, NJ 1/4/00. Poor Koji.

Tenryu vs Sasaki, IWGP title, NJ 1/4/00. They really lay it in.

Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Wagner & Kanemoto, NJ 2/1/00. Normally with a 'lead-in' tag, there's a weak link on the team going against the champs. Not so here, which means either the junior tag champs lose or a big-name opponent does.

Hiro Saito vs AKIRA, NJ 2/4/00, JIP. AKIRA is able to get an actively good effort out of Hiro!

Tenryu & Koshinaka vs Sasaki & Kenzo Suzuki, NJ 2/4/00. Can Tenryu beat a good match out of baby Kenzo? Yes. Yes he can.

Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Wagner & Kashin, NJ 2/4/00, JIP. The masked duo ended Ohtani/Takaiwa's first reign, and now they're back for another round. Despite being non-title and mid-tour, they use a lot of bombs and keep the action coming right to the end. The show takes place in chilly Sapporo during the winter and sadly the crowd is similarly cold, but even they get drawn in down the stretch. The finish is almost botched, but all things considered the fact that it's pulled off is a real accomplishment when you consider the physics involved.

AKIRA vs Kanemoto, NJ 2/20/00. I think at this point AKIRA was considered a heavyweight, meaning he had an edge over Kanemoto despite having considerably fewer accomplishments. Thankfully this would be just the start of AKIRA taking on junior technicians.

Hiro Saito, Tatsutoshi Goto & Ohara vs Ohtani, Kanemoto & Takaiwa, NJ 4/25/00, 2/3 falls. The crowd gets behind the talented juniors over the heavyweight slugs, and this gets pretty good as a result.

Liger & Tanaka vs Ohtani & Kanemoto, NJ 4/30/00, JIP. The four top juniors go at it, though sadly we only get the final minutes. Liger had been on a tear, dropping just one fall to a junior so far in the year. Does Ohtani have what it takes to put him away, or will Liger's black suit powers net him another win?

Ohtani vs Tanaka, NJ BOSJ '00, slight clipping. It's a mid-tour show at a non-major area that isn't taped for TV. Yet these two put on a good effort and get the crowd rocking by the end. I especially like how they escalated from feeling-out to finishing run in the middle.

Kanemoto vs Takaiwa, NJ BOSJ '00. If only it was complete, this looks like a heck of a match. Kanemoto takes it to Takaiwa and has control most of the way, but nobody is better than Takaiwa when it comes to hitting big moves in the clutch.

Tanaka vs Fujita, NJ BOSJ '00. Scrawny MPro product Fujita does a fine job of hanging with the more accomplished Tanaka.

Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Tanaka, junior tag titles, NJ 6/25/00. Tons of hate, hot finish, Korakuen Hall. Watch it.

Liger, Samurai & Kashin vs Ohtani, Kanemoto & Takaiwa, NJ 7/11/00. This six-man is a reliable matchup. This match is an especially good version of it, with Samurai's hometown fans bringing a ton of heat.

Kanemoto & Tanaka vs Liger & Makabe, IWGP junior tag titles, NJ 9/12/00. Main event on the first taping of the SXW program, and it just might be the best match that show has ever had. Makabe is a shockingly effective underdog, clearly out-gunned against the champs but yet having enough power and energy to surprise them at key moments. Liger is still in black but had finally ended his superhuman gimmick, and he makes for a great hot tag. One of the better matches of 2000!

Hashimoto vs Fujinami, 10/9/00. This match is weird. Hashimoto was 'retired' a few months earlier, then was supposed to come back in humiliating Young Lion garb. Instead he wears the usual and they start to wrestle an incredibly dry match. I've clipped through that to the meat: they get incredibly pissed off and start stiffing the daylights out of each other. And a few months later, Hash was gone from the company. Wrestling can be funny sometimes.

Sasaki vs Kawada, NJ 10/9/00. This match is the definition of 'dream match'. Kawada comes in as the representation of all things All Japan, while Sasaki has dominated New Japan in winning the IWGP title and G-1 Climax this year. Sasaki's entire career changes HERE, as he takes part in his first great singles match in ages and learns how to work all over again. Kawada once again shows what he's made of in guiding the normally pedestrian Sasaki to a picture-perfect dome war. Stiff as hell, paced nicely, incredibly important. What more can you ask for? 262 MB.

Tenzan & Kojima vs Nagata & Iizuka, NJ 11/30/00. Finals of the tag league. TenKoji won the round-robin matchup with a TTD on Nagata. Both wrestled previously, and not in short matches or at the start of the card, so they really show their stamina. Why there wasn't a rematch is beyond me.

Liger & Samurai vs Takaiwa & Makabe, NJ 12/10/00, JIP. Exciting final minutes as Makabe Miracle Run 2000 continues.

Tanaka vs AKIRA, junior title, NJ 12/10/00, JIP. AKIRA's first title shot in years and years. Really a breakout performance from him with all sorts of brilliant technical spots, something that became his specialty. Tanaka can get down on the mat too. Real shame this is missing the start because it looks like one of the best matches of 2000.

Liger, Minoru Tanaka & Makabe vs Delfin, Murahama & Tsubasa, NJ 12/14/00. Osaka Pro invades! Shoot-stylists Tanaka and Murahama collide! Makabe tries not to mess everything up! Plenty of heat and hate to warm you up.

Kawada & Fuchi vs Nagata & Iizuka, NJ 12/14/00. Oh this match. How can I praise it? The best match Iizuka has ever been in. The best match Fuchi has been in since '93 and maybe '91. Likely the best match Nagata has ever been in. It's got so much going for it, and if you're any kind of puro fan you owe it to yourself to watch this.

Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka vs Takaiwa & Makabe, NJ 1/4/01, JIP. This is in the same vein as the junior tag title match with Liger in Takaiwa's place. Makabe is in for the most time and gets put over quite a bit once again. Even though Makabe's moveset doesn't fit in with how one thinks of New Japan juniors, Kanemoto and Tanaka adapt just fine to a focus on striking over highspots. Not that there aren't highspots...

Sasaki vs Kojima, IWGP title tournament round 1, NJ 1/4/01. Kojima comes in with a good gameplan and keeps finding ways to go back to it. Problem is, at this point he isn't someone with the kind of firepower to hang with Sasaki as things escalate. Can strategy overcome their gap in brute force? 140 MB.

Mutoh & Ohtani vs Nakanishi & Liger, NJ 1/4/01. Mutoh is in the midst of crafting his current persona, but lacks a few key elements. Liger is in the midst of de-powering from his 2000 no-sell-a-thon. Ah, but the real story here is Ohtani, returning from an excursion with newfound bulk. Some big ol' bumps are taken for the Tokyo Dome crowd.

Nagata vs Tenzan, IWGP tournament round 1, NJ 1/4/01. Sasaki vacated the title after his match with Kawada, so there's a 1-night tournament to crown the new champ. Winner of this match gets Kawada. Hmmm, well they built Kawada vs Nagata up in the tag in December, and Nagata/Iizuka beat TenKoji in the tag league final, so the winner is fairly obvious. Right?

Kawada vs Tenzan, IWGP tournament round 2, NJ 1/4/01. Kawada had a bye, Tenzan went through the roughest first round match. Yet as this bout progresses one gets the odd sense that Tenzan is the fresh one, Tenzan is the one with energy to spare, Tenzan is the one destined to win. Kawada senses this too and gets desperate down the stretch.

Kawada vs Sasaki, IWGP tournament final, NJ 1/4/01. Not on the same tier as their first match, but in the context of both having wrestled earlier that's to be expected. While the October 2000 battle had the feel of a typical drawn-out heavyweight match, this one has more urgency and a sense that it could end at any time. Plenty of heat throughout as a result, and HUGE heat in the final minutes.

Tenzan & Kojima vs Sasaki & Liger, NJ 2/3/01. The match starts with the most interesting pairings. Tenzan/Liger is a battle of long-time backstage friends, and Sasaki/Kojima is a battle of Choshu disciples. The former leads to Liger getting chippy, and Liger adds the most to the match (no shock there). TenKoji lost three times in the year-end tour and lost their first non-title match as champs, so a loss here is hardly out of the question when they're facing the heavyweight and junior heavyweight aces.

Kanemoto & Tanaka vs Dr. Wagner Jr & Silver King, junior tag titles, NJ 2/3/01. Wagner and King, real-life brothers, have appropriately good teamwork. Kanemoto & Tanaka are a quality team, but the challengers are on another level entirely. Huge finishing run.

Nagata, Iizuka & Nakanishi vs Kawada, Fuchi & Araya, NJ 2/3/01. More NJ vs AJ battling!

Kanemoto, Minoru Tanaka & Takaiwa vs Dr. Wagner Jr, Silver King & El Samurai, NJ 2/18/01. Samurai's theme is so BOSS compared to what Kanemoto's team uses. We get the junior tag from two weeks earlier with Takaiwa and Sammy added; I have to give the advantage to Team No Mask given that this is 2001 rather than the mid-90s. But this being New Japan, anyone can beat anyone! And indeed Samurai does NOT end up being the loss post here. Fairly standard action most of the way, and 'fairly standard' with this level of talent means it's very solid. Last quarter delivers the excitement that YOU want from junior heavies.

Chono & Hall vs Nakanishi & Yoshie, New Japan 4/20/01. This bogs down at times, but Hall does enough entertaining things for me to link this. Also I have a soft spot because this was one of the first puro matches online.

Tanaka vs Shibata, NJ BOSJ '01. Nifty little bout as young Shibata shows his shooty side.

AKIRA vs Wagner, NJ BOSJ '01. Wagner will NOT stand for having his Super Juniors eligibility questioned! He starts lobbing bombs straightaway and also manages to do the most damage on the mat. AKIRA only remains competitive by use of some dastardly tactics, and he does get some big shots in whenever he's able to halt Wagner's momentum. Will trickery or brute force win the day?

Tanaka vs AKIRA, NJ BOSJ '01, JIP by 1 minute. In the same vein as their 2000 match, so if you liked that you should like this. And if you haven't seen their 2000 match, how come? Huh? You too GOOD for it? With your popped collar and your gelled hair and your spray-on tan and your tight abs and your Axe™ body spray and your Coors Light™ and your text messaging and your Nintendo Wii™ and your Facebook™ page and your "hooking up" and your lawyer daddy who'll make sure you don't go to jail if your fake ID/pot-selling business gets exposed. You sicken me. And give back my chocolate milk.

AKIRA vs Makabe, NJ BOSJ 2001. Shinya Makabe: master of arm locks! And no, I'm not kidding, YOU will be yelling at AKIRA to tap out to Makabe arm submissions. New Japan's 'anyone can beat anyone else in a tournament' booking style really helps add drama; ten years earlier AKIRA benefitted from it, and now as a veteran he's vulnerable to it.

Liger vs Silver King, NJ BOSJ '01. Silver King, who nobody thought would make an impact on the tournament, can go to the finals with a win here. He demonstrates a grasp of Japanese taunts and English profanity, which I think is good enough to qualify as tri-lingual. He nails top-rope backflips and moonsaults entirely too well for a man with his build. He's in there with Liger, but this is the Silver King show all the way.

Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Minoru Tanaka, NJ BOSJ '01. Hardly any junior heavyweight can pull off being dominant as thoroughly as Wagner. He's got a balanced, diverse attack. He can more than hang with Tanaka from a technical aspect, he's a better flyer, and he's far stronger. The winner moves on to the finals; can Tanaka find a way to beat the odds?

Tenzan vs Nakanishi, NJ 6/4/01. Nakanishi has been ahead of Tenzan for years now, including making him tap to the rack in a playoff during the previous G-1. Tenzan hasn't had a title shot in almost three years and is looking to show he's more than just a tag wrestler, while Nakanishi will fight to the last to keep what he's earned. 128 MB.

Fuchi vs El Samurai, NJ 6/6/01. Fuchi has been a veritable punching bag in the interpromotional war to this point. However he's mostly been up against heavyweights. How does the symbol of All Japan's junior division fare against one of the New Japan junior mainstays? More importantly, why couldn't they have gotten like ten more minutes to rock the mat?

Kawada vs Kojima, NJ 6/6/01. After eight months of carrying New Japan's heavyweight division, *Kawada* is the lesser man in a match. Kojima's charisma and energy shine through, and this is a top 5 career match for Koji. One of the last .wmv files I don't plan on replacing!

Tenzan vs Liger, NJ G-1 Climax 2001. Does BOSJ winner Liger have what it takes to hang with the big boys? Will Tenzan's power overcome the experience and grit of one of his teachers? Hot hot finish!

Tenzan vs Nishimura, NJ G-1 Climax 2001. Technique against brute force.

Chono vs Tenzan, NJ G-1 Climax 2001. They shake hands before the bell, signifying a clean fight between long-time partners. However that isn't to be, as one blindsides the other to start. The attackee eventually gets dirty to come back. These two aren't particularly stiff, spectacular, or good on the mat; but they have enough charisma, trademarks and ring sense to piece together a good match with a big big finish. Loser is all but dead in the tournament.

Kojima vs Liger, NJ G-1 Climax 2001. Crowd wants Liger to win! You want Liger to win! Most importantly, Liger wants Liger to win! Kojima can't afford to let that happen!

Tenzan vs Kojima, NJ G-1 Climax 2001. Final round-robin match of the tournament. Kojima makes the semifinals with a win, while Tenzan needs to win to show he's still the leader of their team. These partners hold nothing back. 225 MB.

Tenzan & Kojima vs Kawada & Nagai, New Japan 9/16/01, JIP. Big second half of a big tag at a big venue. BIG!

Kaz Fujita vs Sasaki, NJ 10/8/01. Fujita, who beat Ken Shamrock in a shootfight a year earlier, is IWGP champ. Sasaki wants to restore his pride after losing the title to Scott Norton in March. Short, intense, and stiff- especially the punches.

Mutoh & Hase vs Akiyama & Nagata, NJ 10/8/01. Triple Crown champ & Japanese congressman vs GHC champ and G-1 winner. Quite the assortment of talent here. Plenty of nifty stuff in this one.

Tanaka & Naruse vs Kakihara & Naniwa, NJ junior tag league 11/23/01. I can imagine Kakihara's reaction when they announced pairings for the junior tag league. Liger? No. Any of the last three champions? No. El Samurai? No. Um... Wataru Inoue? Sorry Kaki, you've got the crab. Yet somehow, some way, Naniwa makes it work.

Liger & Samurai vs Shibata & Inoue, NJ junior tag league 11/23/01. Superb veteran vs young lion battle, and as usual Korakuen is the place to do such a match in a main event!

Liger & Samurai vs Tanaka & Naruse, NJ junior tag league 11/24/01. Pro-style practitioners versus shoot-style specialists. Who gets a PHD in junior tagology?

Nagata & Nakanishi vs Nishimura & Liger, NJ tag league 11/30/01. Strength versus technique.

Tenzan & Kojima vs Barton & Steele, NJ tag league 11/30/01. The first bit of the match you wonder if these teams are going to gel, especially Steele. By the end you want more and thankfully that's exactly what we'd get! 171 MB.

Tenzan & Kojima vs Barton & Steele, New Japan 12/11/01. Finals of New Japan's tag league. TenKoji lost in last years' final and already had a match before. Barton and Steele are All Japan powerhouses who come in fresh. This is a wonderful mix of basic tag formula and Japanese heavyweight-style action, and is certainly the highlight of the famed TenKoji team.

Akiyama vs Nagata, GHC title, New Japan 1/4/02. Nagata was supposed to face Fujita for the IWGP title, but Fujita hurt himself. Then on 12/31/01, Nagata got mauled by Cro Cop in a shootfight. Thus, a match that wasn't planned and is brought down by circumstances - but they do go for the gusto. 232 MB.

Nagata vs Scott Norton, NJ 3/21/02. Winner gets an IWGP shot. Norton beat Nagata in '98 to fill a title vacancy, and he won the title a year ago. Nagata is looking for redemption after several bad losses, and he really tees off on the big man when he gets the chance. 102 MB.

Chono & Tenzan vs Nagata & Nakanishi, NJ 3/24/02. Winner gets the vacant tag titles. They do a really good job of mixing up the trademark moves and maintaining the pace.

Manami Toyota & Hotta vs Ito & Momoe Nakanishi, NJ 5/2/02. New Japan gave a couple promotions a small spot on the Tokyo Dome card, so AJW sent its top stars... and the ring announcer! Momoe is SO EXCITED about the opportunity. The fast pace and effort are enough for the crowd to be responsive despite joshi having fallen from favor. Rather spotty but they sprint enough to mask that.

Hashimoto & Ogawa vs Tenzan & Norton, NJ 5/2/02. Hashimoto's final match in New Japan, and thankfully it's one that exceeds expectations. Fun exchanges with Hash and Norton, Tenzan is fired up, some big bumps, this one is worth your while.

Steiner Brothers vs Sasaki & Tanahashi, NJ 5/2/02. I don't know why they have Chyna as the ref, but she does fit in with the freakish Big Poppa Pump. Suplexing occurs!

Nagata vs Takayama, IWGP title, NJ 5/2/02. The match that, to me, kicked off Takayama's world-class two year run. A match showing both men are capable of a Tokyo Dome-caliber title bout, something that wasn't clear going in.

Liger vs Curry Man, NJ BOSJ '02, 5/30/02. Ummmmm it's Liger vs Christopher Daniels.

Takayama vs Nakanishi, NJ 6/7/02. Clash of the titans. German vs German! Chop vs knee! Possibly Nakanishi's best singles match to that point. 164 MB.

Nagata vs Sasaki, IWGP title, NJ 6/7/02. This is probably the best IWGP match Sasaki was in. Paced very nicely, well put-together, and considering that Nagata is something like 1-10 versus Sasaki there's no small amount of doubt over the winner. Crappy crowd, unfortunately. 200+ MB.

Takayama & Tenzan vs Chono & Nishimura, NJ 7/20/02. A 'G-1 Special Tag' with irregular partners. Everyone's hatin' on everyone else, making things interesting.

Tenzan vs Yoshie, New Japan G-1 '02. Long-time nobody jobber Yoshie went overseas and came back in 2000 as someone to be taken seriously. He used his reverse figure-four to beat Tenzan, but that wasn't enough to get into the '01 G-1. Now that Mutoh and Kojima have jumped there's some room for Yoshie, and he aims to make an impression on opening day. Tenzan isn't interested in an 'impression', he wants to win the whole thing, and he debuts a new hold here for that purpose. 153 MB.

Takayama vs Sasaki, G-1 '02. This match is ridiculously stiff. I would gladly take all the chops from Sasaki vs Kobashi over the strikes served up here.

Takayama vs Tenzan, New Japan G-1 '02. New Japan's style doesn't lend itself as well to 25 minute-plus epics the way old All Japan did. However, in 10-15 minute matches it works out very nicely, which is why the G-1 produces such a huge percentage of their best heavyweight bouts. Case in point: this. 112 MB.

Takayama vs Yoshie, New Japan G-1 '02. You've got three sub-plots going for the match. One, a headliner against a low-ranked guy with nothing to lose. Two, an invader against a loyalist. Three, one chunky heavyweight and another chunky heavyweight pounding on each other. I'm especially fond of the last one. 101 MB.

Takayama vs Nishimura, New Japan G-1 Climax '02 semis. There's a lot to love. Great style contrast, great underdog story, Takayama working the mat rocks, some nice drama down the stretch, etc.

Chono vs Takayama, New Japan G-1 Climax '02 final. Best Chono singles match of the '00s. Great heat, steady action, well-executed finish, it really feels like a worthy final.

KENTA vs Wataru Inoue, NJ 8/29/02. NJ vs NOAH juniors is one of the can't-miss feuds of the decade.

Kanemoto vs Hashi, New Japan 8/29/02. This one is a personal favorite. Hashi, coming in from NOAH, plays the sympathetic underdog and gets face heat. I think this is his breakout performance. Kanemoto is really focused. The result is a heated match that could just as easily have been a throwaway squash. 135 MB.

Liger & Minoru Tanaka vs Kikuchi & Kanemaru, IWGP junior tag titles New Japan 8/29/02. This one rocks as well. Playing off the two Liger-in-NOAH tags (available you-know-where), NOAH's juniors strike back. Crowd acts like they're NOAH partisans, which is unexpected but fits with how the match is worked. Plenty of hate for you to sink your teeth into. 211 MB.

Kanemoto vs Tiger Mask 4, IWGP junior title, NJ 9/22/02. After TM4's big match with Hidaka in MPro, both moved on to bigger and better things. Kanemoto's goal is to make sure that 'bigger and better' stops just short of winning the top juniors belt in Japan.

Bob Sapp vs Nakanishi, NJ 10/14/02. The pre-match stuff absolutely rules. The match is fun. The post-match also absolutely rules.

Kanemoto vs Rutten, junior title, NJPW 10/26/02. Rutten is great considering how few matches he'd had at this point. Even though he'd beaten Nakanishi and had a heavyweight title shot earlier in the year, Rutten treats Kanemoto with respect. Because of Rutten's MMA success he's very much a threat, and Kanemoto has to work hard on the mat or he's sure to get submitted!

Liger & Kanemoto vs AKIRA & Heat, junior tag titles, NJ 3/9/03. Some fine junior-heavyweight action here.

Kanemoto vs AKIRA, junior title, NJ 3/23/03. AKIRA really makes this, pulling out a lot of tricks. I tend not to like many junior singles matches because I feel like they're going through the motions, but AKIRA really mixes it up well. New complete version!

Chono & Tenzan vs Liger & Kanemoto, NJ 4/18/03. Heavyweight tag champs versus junior tag champs. The juniors take no guff and more than hold their own, making for a very interesting contest.

Tanahashi vs Makabe, Under-30 tournament final, NJ 4/23/03. Makabe, having graduated from being a 'big junior', is starting to climb the heavyweight ranks. Tanahashi has returned after being stabbed in the back by a psycho ex-girlfriend, and is getting the first serious push of his career. Winner gets the new U-30 title. Basic but very good match. Makabe beat Tanahashi earlier in the tournament with a fisherman's buster.

Tenzan vs Tanahashi, IWGP title #1 contenders match, NJ 5/2/03. Time to see if Tanahashi has progressed enough to hang with the big boys.

Kobashi vs Chono, GHC title, NJ 5/2/03. Chono comes off winning the G-1 and taking IWGP champ Nagata to a 60 minute draw. However, does he have the firepower to put down Kobashi?

Liger & Kanemoto vs Marufuji & Kotaro Suzuki, IWGP junior tag titles, NJ 6/10/03. NJ vs NOAH juniors action equals good.

Takayama vs Tenzan, IWGP title, NJ 6/10/03. Nothing fancy, just an old-fashioned heavyweight battle. 150 MB.

Takayama vs Nakamura, NWF title, NJ 6/13/03. Takayama beats the phenom into a pulp.

Nagata vs Yoshie, New Japan G-1 Climax '03. Yoshie has been a life-long undercarder, but he's finally coming into his own as the resident fat-man of puro. Nagata's main tactic of kicking his opponent into oblivion runs into a wall... of fat. This is probably Yoshie's career match to this point.

Akiyama vs Tenzan, NJ G-1 Climax '03. The muscle he added during a recent overseas trip was intended to put him over the top in the tournament, but he's going up against an opponent used to dealing with the likes of Kobashi so that won't be enough by itself. Quite the hot crowd.

Akiyama vs Nishimura, G-1 '03. You've got two different stories here: the invading NOAH guy, and the invading NOAH guy who's used to brushing off anything Nishimura can throw at him. A power vs technique match that, thanks to the 'outsider' element, has tons o' heat.

Akiyama vs Tanahashi, NJ G-1 Climax '03. Young Tanahashi faces perhaps the biggest test of his career to date. Akiyama already has one loss in the tournament and can't afford another. Current phenom versus former phenom in a fight to the finish!

Nishimura vs Tanahashi, New Japan G-1 '03. A fine technical match. You expect Nishimura to dominate on the mat, but Tanahashi more than holds up his end.

Takayama vs Shibata, New Japan G-1 '03. This is Shibata's first G-1, and amazingly enough if he wins this match then he wins the block. Even a draw is enough to put him in the semis. Sadly for him, he matches up very poorly with Takayama. Thankfully for us he doesn't seem to care, going all-out. Result is a very fast-paced, hard-hitting affair.

Akiyama vs Chono, New Japan G-1 '03. If Akiyama wins or draws, he advances and Chono doesn't. If Chono wins it causes a 3-way tie in their block. I was concerned about this match coming in because Chono can be problematic in long bouts and Akiyama isn't much for carrying, but both really bring the goods and the crowd helps plenty.

Akiyama vs Nagata, New Japan G-1 '03 semifinals. Nagata destroyed Akiyama a month before in NOAH, now Akiyama has a chance at revenge. Much more satisfying than their first singles match.

Takayama vs Tenzan, New Japan G-1 Climax '03 semifinals. Takayama comes in as IWGP champ and having defended the title against Tenzan. Tenzan, on the other hand, is on a win streak thanks to his recently-created anaconda vice. Heck of a match.

Akiyama vs Tenzan, New Japan G-1 '03 Final. Tenzan has failed to win the IWGP or G-1 crowns, year after year. Now he has enough of an arsenal to get the job done against most wrestlers, but Akiyama is more accustomed to epic battles and is certainly more skilled. Tenzan's only hope is that he has enough fighting spirit to survive.

Nakanishi & Tiger Mask 4 vs Norton & American Dragon, NJ 12/14/03. Really fun, everyone plays their role to a T. Big guys who throw beefy chops, juniors willing to stand up to them, and so on. Well worth your while.

Tanahashi & Yoshie vs Tenzan & Nishimura, tag titles, New Japan 12/14/03. TanaYoshie toppled Tenzan & Chono earlier in the year, as Yoshie pinned Tenzan with his top rope splash. Nishimura isn't quite the tag expert Chono is, but he can do something to tilt the scales against a team with Yoshie on it: make the match go longer. Solid, very technical-oriented outing.

Nishimura vs Minoru Suzuki, New Japan 1/4/04. Good clash of styles and characters, good mat wrestling, and they accomplish a lot without using a ton of time. This is maybe my favorite Suzuki match of the decade because it doesn't drag.

American Dragon vs Tiger Mask 4, New Japan 2/1/04. A perfect demonstration of Danielson's versatility as he has a solid, smart undercard match that leaves plenty on the table both for a rematch and for matches to follow on the card.

Tenryu & Sasaki vs Nagata & Nakanishi, NJ 2/1/04. Bad blood between the teams means hard striking! Bad blood within the teams means it's impossible to predict!

Kanemoto, American Dragon & Curry Man vs Heat, Tiger Mask 4 & Naruse, NJ 2/15/04. Top-notch juniors action. 175 MB.

Liger vs Momota, GHC junior title, NJ 2/15/04. Momota, the aging son of Rikidozan who hasn't had a title shot in over a decade, is sent to bring NOAH's junior title back home. A stern task, but Momota goes all-out and gets the New Japan crowd totally behind him for his efforts.

Liger vs Momota, GHC junior title, NJ 2/15/04. VQ upgrade.

Tenzan vs Tenryu, IWGP title decision match, NJ 2/15/04. Some blood, some hard bumps, and some very good strike exchanges. Nagata was supposed to win the tournament but Tenzan legit KOed him with a moonsault, so the winner here was very much up in the air.

Takayama vs Shibata, NJ 3/12/04. Very short, very intense.

Tenzan vs Nakamura, NJ 3/28/04. Their last match was a short, unsatisfying upset win for Nakamura, ending Tenzan's long-awaited first IWGP reign. Now both are aiming for a title shot, and a more decisive conclusion to the first battle. Strength versus technique! 147 MB.

Takayama & Suzuki vs Tenryu & Nakanishi, tag titles, NJ 3/28/04. Lots of style-clashing, stiffness, and a really funny ending.

Sasaki vs Sapp, IWGP title, NJ 3/28/04. Way too fun. There's a lot going on to try and cover Sapp's awkwardness, but it works. This one only takes a couple minutes of your time, give 'er a try.

Liger vs Nakajima, NJ 5/3/04. Liger knows how to put a 'rookie phenom' in his place.

Kanemoto, Ultimo Dragon & American Dragon vs Marufuji, Heat & Tiger Mask IV, NJ 5/3/04. Danielson is the best guy in the match (shocking, I know) but it's not like he has to carry it given the raw talent involved here. I don't like dream matches by default, this is actively good. 116 MB.

Kanemoto, El Samurai & Rocky Romero vs Heat, Kakihara & Naruse, NJ 6/5/04. Fine juniors action! FEAR THE HEADLOCK.

Sasaki & Liger vs Minoru Suzuki & Tiger Mask 4, NJ 6/5/04. Tons of fun. Suzuki pisses off Sasaki! Liger pisses of Suzuki! TM4 snipes at Sasaki!

Fujita vs Tanahashi, IWGP title decision match, NJ 6/5/04. Sapp had been champ but Fujita crushed him in a shoot so Sapp vacated the belt and Fujita popped into place. Both of them stick to their roles (MMA monster and pro-wrestling underdog), resulting in a match that far surpassed expectations. Monstrous file size but it's crystal clear.

Kanemoto vs American Dragon, NJ BOSJ 6/13/04. This would be 'the good stuff' right here.

Nakamura & Taguchi vs Minoru Suzuki & Rocky Romero, NJ 6/13/04. Very much a 'strong style' matchup, with traditional wrestling and shoot-style woven together. Plus things heat up a bit as they go along.

Nishimura vs Yoshie, NJ 7/6/04. Blubber versus technique!

Danielson vs Yamamoto, New Japan 7/19/04. Most young lion undercard matches are dull. This, for some reason, is good. Hmmmmmmm.

Jado & Gedo vs Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue, junior tag titles, New Japan 7/19/04. Good start, really good finish that leaves you wanting to see a rematch. Thankfully we got it!

Fujita vs Shibata, IWGP title, NJ 7/19/04. Well this is kinda, sorta on the stiff side. A wee bit. Just a tad though.

Nakamura vs Yoshie, NJ G-1 Climax 8/7/04. I really enjoy the '04 tournament because there was such a diversity of styles, leading to lots of very fresh matchups. Here we have a power versus 'technique' battle, and also a 'new color tights' battle.

Nishimura vs Tanahashi, NJ G-1 Climax 8/7/04. Two wrestlers who have never made a final look to start off on the right foot. Some similarities to their '03 match, but I think this one is a little more intense.

Takayama vs Nakanishi, NJ G-1 Climax 8/7/04. Big ol' slobberknocker.

Minoru Suzuki vs Blue Wolf, G-1 Climax, New Japan 8/8/04. Wolf was a decent worker but never really 'high-end'. His best stuff came in this tournament, as his power style clashed with those of others in his block. For instance, the more technical shoot-style of Suzuki. The execution of the finish is a thing of beauty.

Nakanishi vs Makabe, NJ G-1 Climax 8/8/04. I was all ready for this to suck but it DOESN'T. In fact it's GOOD. Nothing fancy, but they manage to keep things interesting.

Nishimura vs Kanemoto, NJ G-1 Climax 8/8/04. Kanemoto got in by winning the Super Juniors tournament, but even against a mid-ranked heavyweight he's still a big underdog. Especially a heavyweight who's as skilled as Nishimura. However, not only does Kanemoto hold his own, he out-and-out dominates Mr. Muga. Really good technical bout here.

Tenzan vs Tanahashi, NJ G-1 Climax 8/8/04. Tanahashi beat Tenzan in last year's tournament with a dragon suplex, and comes off a strong showing on night one. He's also ready for Tenzan's usual stuff. That said, Tenzan is still the favorite based on his experience.

Sasaki vs Takayama, NJ G-1 Climax 8/8/04. Another war between these titans. In '02 it was more based on striking, where this is more about bomb-throwing.

Shibata vs Nakamura, NJ G-1 Climax 8/8/04. Two of the company's young guns collide in a matchup that's high-end and cutting-edge in a very New Japan way.

Nagata vs Yoshie, NJ G-1 Climax 8/11/04. Builds off their match from a year earlier.

Sasaki vs Nakanishi, NJ G-1 Climax 8/13/04. No-nonsense power battle, and for my money quite a lot better than their G-1 final in 2000.

Nagata vs Nakamura, NJ G-1 Climax 8/13/04. Former company ace versus 'supernova'. Last year Nakamura was decisively below Nagata, but now he's proven he can beat anyone.

Shibata vs Yoshie, NJ G-1 Climax 8/14/04. Stiffness versus blubber: the eternal battle.

Sasaki vs Tanahashi, NJ G-1 Climax 8/14/04. Two years ago Tanahashi pinned Sasaki with a fluke cradle. One month ago Sasaki got a decisive win. Tanahashi is 5-1 so far in the tournament, meaning he's on the roll of his career, but Sasaki is as good as he's ever been.

Nagata vs Minoru Suzuki, NJ G-1 Climax 8/14/04. Nagata advances to the playoff with a win, Suzuki is out of the running but can get to a winning record for the sake of pride. Their match a year ago ended with Nagata's 'demon' armbar, and neither of them has forgotten that.

Sasaki vs Tenryu, NJ G-1 Climax 8/15/04. Spoiler: more than one chop is thrown.

Tenzan vs Nakamura, NJ G-1 Climax 8/15/04. Nakamura caused an abrupt end to Tenzan's first IWGP reign, then won again in convincing fashion in March. Nakamura was one of the favorites to win the tournament as well. However, Tenzan has looked better in the tournament so far and is coming off winning the tournament the year before.

Tenryu vs Tanahashi, G-1 Climax semi-final, New Japan 8/15/04. This match primarily consists of Tenryu smacking around a prettyboy. So you know I like it.

Tenzan vs Tanahashi, NJ G-1 Climax 2004 Final. Tenzan has fended off two of the 'new three musketeers' today and now has to deal with the third, while Tanahashi only had one match. Will Tanahashi reach a new level in his career? Does Tenzan have enough in the tank?

Sasaki vs Nagata, NJ 10/17/04, clipped. A bloody slugfest that tragically has never been shown in full outside their pass-protected website. Their 1/4/04 Tokyo Dome match is more famous, but I prefer this one despite the non-finish.

Kawada vs Shibata, NJ 11/3/04. Ultra-stuff, non-stop sprint.

Sasaki & Suzuki vs Tanahashi & Nakamura, tag title decision match, NJ 12/11/04. The belts were vacated when Takayama got hurt. Sasaki isn't exactly a downgrade, and Takayama/Suzuki was nigh invulnerable. Can New Japan's young guns avoid the beating of their lives? Well... no. But can they take said beating and still win? Well...

Jado & Gedo vs Kanemoto & Inoue, IWGP junior tag titles, NJ 3/4/05. Uber-great tag as Jado/Gedo heel it up and the crowd goes nuts, leading to a killer finish.

Nakamura & Tanahashi vs Norton & Nakanishi, tag titles, NJ 3/13/05. Shockingly great outing from the powerhouses, and the best Norton has looked in the decade. A highlight from a weak year for the company.

Nagata vs Tanahashi, New Japan Cup, NJ 4/19/05. After losing the IWGP title, Nagata fell into a bit of a funk. In this match we see the birth of a spark, one which would prove vital to his later resurgence.

Minoru Suzuki vs Otsuka, NJ 5/14/05. Really enjoyable, quick match.

Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue vs Minoru Tanaka & Hirooki Goto, junior tag titles, NJ 5/14/05. Goto had just won the young lions tournament and now he has a shot at gold in his first Tokyo Dome match. Is he up to the task? 180 MB.

Nakanishi vs Yoshie, NJ G-1 Climax '05. The irresistable force versus the immovable object, a tried and true wrestling formula. No really, this is good! 165 MB.

Nakamura vs Tanahashi, NJ G-1 Climax '05. Better believe there's some quality here. 191 MB.

Kawada vs Suzuki, NJ G-1 Climax 2005. It's a contest to see who the bigger bastard is. The winner is all of us. Not sure how I overlooked this at the time, it's immensely enjoyable.

Nakanishi vs Tanahashi, G-1 '05, NJ 8/13/05. Maybe I'm biased from having seen it live (my birthday no less) but I think this is a solid underdog vs powerhouse match.

Hirooki Goto vs Anzawa, NJ 8/14/05. Anzawa, who sadly retired in 2006 (I'm guessing due to pay cuts), was quite promising. Goto was also promising, but then you already know that. HOT YOUNG LION ON YOUNG LION ACTION! Wait that came out wrong...

Kawada vs Kaz Fujita, G-1 '05 semifinal, NJ 8/14/05. Short, intense battle that a few years earlier would have sold out a big building by itself. I was wearing my Kawada shirt and being a raving mark the whole time because it's KAWADA and screw Fujita and his Inoki-ism.

Nagata, Nakanishi & Kashin vs Tenzan, Tanahashi & Yoshie, NJ 8/14/05.

Chono vs Fujita, G-1 '05 final, NJ 8/14/05. Fujita won the IWGP title a month earlier and said he did it for the memory of the recently departed Hashimoto. Chono, undaunted by Fujita's streak of dominant victories, represents the actual spirit of Hashimoto. Simple, ultra-hot match.

Chono vs Fujita, G-1 '05 final, NJ 8/14/05. Match-only upgrade.

Choshu vs Shibata, Riki Pro 8/14/05. Shibata has left New Japan. He's out to show up the old man. SPOILER: there is at least one lariat in this match.

Kanemoto & Wataru Inoue vs Takaiwa & Yoshihito Sasaki, New Japan 10/8/05. Takaiwa in his first New Japan match in years would seem to be the story here, but no, the highlight is Yoshihito Sasaki being fiiiired up and showing what he's got at Tokyo Dome. Sasaki won Zero-One's junior tournament earlier in the year and beat Takaiwa in the semis, so he's no slouch. Kanemoto and Wataru are more experienced as a team however. Fast-paced, hard-hitting, chippy, and it makes you want to see Kanemoto vs Sasaki from two days later.

Hirooki Goto vs Naofumi Yamamoto, NJ 10/30/05. Young lions going to town on each other, always enjoyable.

Nishimura vs Hiro Saito, NJ 12/11/05. Some clipping. I just love this matchup.

Liger vs Minoru Tanaka, NJ 12/11/05. These two have had more famous matches, but this is my favorite. Really feels like a big match even without a title or tournament at stake.

Nakamura vs Yamamoto, NJ 12/25/05. Quality wrestlers, quality match.

Tanahashi vs Hirooki Goto, U-30 title, NJ 12/25/05. Goto is out of his league with Tanahashi but he gives it his all regardless. 99 MB.

Minoru Tanaka & Tiger Mask 4 vs Takaiwa & Ishii, NJ 1/4/06. JIP. Amazingly it's the musclebound head-drop kings who take the nastiest neck bumps.

Shibata vs Tanahashi, NJ 1/4/06. Shibata has abandoned the company, and returns as an outsider. An outsider who likes to kick really hard. 95 MB.

Nagata & Tanahashi vs Nakamura & Yamamoto, NJ 2/4/06. It's all about the Yamamoto.

Tanahashi vs Yamamoto, U-30 title, NJ 2/12/06. The final match for this title. Is Yamamoto ready for the big-time?

Nagata & Yamamoto vs Iizuka & Ishii, NJ 3/4/06. Nagata and Ishii hate each other or something. My goodness.

Nagata vs Ishii, NJ 4/16/06. Nagata and Ishii continue to hate each other.

Nagata vs Tanahashi, New Japan Cup, NJ 4/29/06. These two just match up so well. 140 MB.

Nagata vs Giant Bernard, New Japan Cup final, NJ 4/30/06. The artist formerly known as A-Train busts out a killer performance, combining brute force with smart selling. One of Japan's best bouts of 2006, BELIEVE IT!

Tanahashi vs Bernard, NJ 6/18/06. Tanahashi is going on to an IWGP title shot against Lesnar in a month, and this is a 'gaijin monster' test. Of course Lesnar bailed on the company and they just did this match again, but let's ignore that because we have a GREAT big vs small match here. A-Train rolls on to another killer match.

Minoru Tanaka vs Tiger Mask 4, Best of Super Juniors final, NJ 6/18/06. You might notice that there isn't a lot of NJ juniors from this decade on the site. There's a reason. For all the talent in the division, I so rarely get into the matches. This match is not only one that I enjoy, it's one that I *LOVE*. Minoru comes in banged up, TM4 hounds him, Minoru battles back, and then they go into an off-the-charts finishing stretch in front of a molten Korakuen crowd. Best BOSJ final in a very long while, and maybe the best match the division has produced since '97.

Nagata vs Yamamoto, NJ G-1 Climax 8/6/06. Yamamoto uses stiff kicks and a backdrop suplex. He does not use either to the same effect as Nagata. Yamamoto knows this but will go full speed ahead regardless because this is the biggest chance of his life.

Nagata vs Kanemoto, NJ G-1 Climax 8/12/06. Nagata advances to the semis with a win; Kanemoto advances with a win or draw. Crowd is totally behind Kanemoto, who is lucky to even be in the tournament. Second best match I've seen live.

Kojima vs Kanemoto, NJ G-1 Climax '06 semifinal. Outsider versus loyal underdog junior equals full crowd support for Kanemoto.

Tenzan vs Bernard, NJ G-1 Climax '06 semi-final. A gaijin hasn't made the G-1 final since Rick Rude in '92. Bernard has all the tools he needs to put Tenzan away many times over, while Tenzan is hard-pressed to find a way to win. Will size triumph, or will Tenzan get a chance to cement his status as the new Mr. G-1?

Tenzan vs Kojima, NJ G-1 Climax '06 final. Former partners collide in their biggest and best battle!

Takayama & Minoru Suzuki vs Nagata & Yamamoto, NJ 10/9/06. Yamamoto get a big chance at Sumo Hall! Takayama and Suzuki have no regard for young lions! Nagata is Nagata! 81 MB.

Tenzan & Makabe vs Tanahashi & Nagata, NJ 10/15/06. The top two of heel stable GBH versus the top two of NJ's regular army. Really good tag match that's helped by a clearer face/heel distinction than you normally get in Japan.

Ishii vs Yamamoto, NJ 11/6/06. Not a heck of a lot held back here. Not very often that the second match on the card is such a war.

Tanahashi vs Nakamura, IWGP title, NJ 12/10/06. Nakamura has bulked up and readied himself to become a deserving, long-term ace. Tanahashi looks to overcome his generational rival in decisive fashion. The end result is the best IWGP title match in years. 123 MB.

Minoru Tanaka vs Taguchi, junior title, New Japan 4/13/07. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm picky about what junior singles matches I host. This is quality right here.

Tanahashi vs Nagata, IWGP title, New Japan 4/13/07. Four years after losing the title, Nagata finally gets a shot. I'd say this manages to top everything in Nagata's long first reign, and it's one of the best IWGP matches of the decade.

Jado & Gedo vs Taka Michinoku & Dick Togo, junior tag titles, New Japan 5/2/07. Taka & Togo invade! Which veteran junior tandem will hold out?

Minoru Tanaka vs Taguchi, BOSJ '07, New Japan 6/1/07. Rematch time! Can Taguchi show he's ready for another title shot, or will Minoru prove his dominance?

Minoru Tanaka vs Taguchi, junior title, New Japan 7/6/07. Big-time conclusion to their series and my favorite IWGP junior title match in many years.

Nagata vs Makabe, IWGP title, New Japan 7/6/07. More hardway blood than I've ever seen, with a super-packed and red-hot Korakuen backing... the super-heel? 100 MB.

Tanahashi vs Makabe, New Japan G-1 Climax '07 semi-final. Interesting to see how these two progressed since facing off in the U-30 tournament final in '03. Both are aiming for their first G-1 win.

Nagata vs Tanahashi, New Japan G-1 Climax '07 final. Nagata advanced after a fluke injury to Nakamura. Yet another chapter in their reliably good rivalry.

Tenzan vs Hirooki Goto, NJ 10/8/07. Hirooki Goto went to Mexico for over a year, and returned not a spectacular junior but instead a credible heavyweight. He's been on a big win streak and now has a huge test in Tenzan. Tough fight with loads of plasma.

Tanahashi vs Hirooki Goto, IWGP title, NJ 11/11/07. One of the most acclaimed matches of '07 and an even bigger breakout match for Hirooki.

Nakanishi vs Yoshie, NJ PREMIUM 5/5/08. PREMIUM is a Chono-produced sub-brand. Nakanishi and Yoshie do pretty much the same match they did in 2005, which is a good thing.

Nagata vs Yoshie, NJ G-1 Climax '08. This was the match I most expected to enjoy in the tournament, and indeed it's a solid outing.

Yoshie vs Hirooki Goto, NJ G-1 Climax '08. Yoshie is often overlooked as a heavy-hitter, since people just focus on the 'heavy' part. Goto is a budding star looking to prove he can go toe-to-toe in heavyweight slugfests. Will Yoshie do Dradition proud, or will the phenom overwhelm the immovable object?

Nakamura & Goto vs Misawa & Sugiura, New Japan 1/4/09. I wasn't expecting much, but this delivers. Sugiura in a big tag against heavyweights is usually quality, and Nakamura looks good going toe-to-toe with Misawa. Note who gets the biggest entrance pop.

Tanahashi vs Nakamura, IWGP title, New Japan 2/15/09. Smart match from Tanahashi. I'd put it on par with any singles match from Japan in 2008, if not higher.

Goto & Okada vs Sugiura & Aoki, NJ 5/5/09. Hot hot NJ vs NOAH action in Korakuen!

Tanahashi vs Nakanishi, IWGP title, NJ 5/6/09, JIP. Nakanishi, for all his strength and experience, was handed a title shot on very short notice by Tanahashi. Why? Hard to say. Maybe Tanahashi felt sorry for him. Maybe he felt that it would be an easy win to pad his number of title defenses. It couldn't have been about Nak being a top contender, because he'd lost every big singles match in New Japan going back quite a ways. But this match, in front of a supportive Korakuen Hall, is his chance to change all that and finally hold the belt.

Kanemoto vs Kikuchi, BOSJ '09. Stiff 'n' Surly.

Shiozaki vs Okada, NJ 6/20/09. Newly minted GHC champ Shiozaki faces a disrespectful Shin Nihon punk. Okada is guaranteed goodness vs NOAH.

Goto vs Okada, NJ 7/5/09. Okada is a great young lion, no bones about it.

Nagata vs Nakanishi, NJ G-1 2009. Hard striking. Goofy yells and facial expressions. Some good nearfalls. It's not a masterpiece but I was entertained throughout.

Tanahashi vs Masato Tanaka, NJ G-1 2009, JIP. Nearfalls!

Nakamura vs Makabe, NJ G-1 2009 final. Nakamura beats up Makabe, who makes a couple big comebacks. Simple but effective.

Nakamura vs Ohtani, IWGP title, New Japan 10/12/09. In all likelihood this is the last really big match Ohtani will have. He brings his A game and the crowd gets behind him big-time, especially with his Hashimoto tributes.

Chono, Mutoh & Kobashi vs Kojima, Akiyama & Nakanishi, New Japan 10/12/09, JIP. For me it's all about Nakanishi vs Kobashi.

Ohtani vs Kuniyoshi Wada, Lock-Up 1/17/10. Retirement match for Wada. Who is Wada you ask? Um... he's a dude whose notable accomplishment is getting battered by Ohtani in his retirement match.

Nagata vs Ishii, Lock-Up 1/17/10. In 2006 these two hated and stiffed each other, which was nice, but Ishii didn't even last 10 minutes one-on-one. This time around he's got more big-league experience and is better able to go strike-for-strike.

Nakanishi vs Tanaka, NJ Cup 3/14/10. Nakanishi is ON POINT with his chops, and Tanaka does an admirable job of overcoming the size gap. I clipped out a couple minutes in the middle; you won't miss it.

Tanahashi vs Naito, NJ Cup, NJ 3/20/10. I saw their match five months earlier first, and I regret it because this really sets things up for Naito as someone who can hang with the big names. Not only is he competitive with Tanahashi, but he does so while using Tanahashi's own tactics!

Marufuji vs Liger, IWGP junior title, NJ 4/4/10, JIP. I do enjoy Liger splatting Marufuji with straightforward impact moves. It's a nice contrast to Marufuji's overly esoteric moveset.

Negro Casas vs Liger, CMLL Middleweight Title, NJ 5/3/10. Casas busts out a wide variety of swank technical moves. I wasn't a fan of his at all coming in, but by the end I was rooting for him!

Nakamura vs Makabe, IWGP title, New Japan 5/3/10. Takes a little while to get going, but an unexpected development (and some high-impact moves) is enough to make this worthwhile. Oh and THE BEST VIDEO QUALITY OF ALL TIME. (Still true as of March 2012)

AKIRA vs Yoshihashi, Super Juniors, NJ 5/30/10. A smart, focused match that results in a young lion looking really good. Plus a rib-crunching finish!

Tanahashi vs Naito, New Japan G-1 Climax 8/8/10. Naito is young yet, and in his first year as a heavyweight he's already won the tag titles and made it into the G-1. He hangs with Tanahashi on the mat, and in the middle as they work each other over, and yet not long into the finish you still get a sense like Tanahashi is ready to go home any minute. Thus, the fans expect things to end quickly for Naito, yet he keeps fighting and giving Tanahashi trouble. At the start of the tour Naito got a fluke win over IWGP champ Makabe, but a win here would be far more meaningful. Just how far can he push one of New Japan's pillars?

Nagata vs Shiozaki, NJ G-1 Climax 2010. These two are able to dish out some dandy exchanges and sequences considering that this is a first-time meeting.

Nagata vs Takahashi, NJ G-1 Climax 2010. Nagata gets surprised by the youngster's strength early, and hammers him quite a bit in retaliation. Does young Yujiro have what it takes to beat one of the company's biggest names and get a career-making win at Sumo Hall?

Nakamura vs Goto, NJ 10/11/10, JIP. Some nifty exchanges and solid nearfalls in the second half of this one.

Nagata & Kanemoto vs Shiozaki & Aoki, NJ 10/11/10. The hate is more focused in the first half than it is in the second, but boy oh boy is it hateful in there.

Nagata vs Suzuki, NJ 1/4/11. Slaps and facials to please the Tokyo Dome crowd. They definitely work this like their expressions will be shown on a big screen, and in that way it's unique among pretty much every Japanese match I've seen. And I've seen a LOT.

Bernard & Anderson vs Kojima & Maff, New Japan 5/15/11. NJ invades the former ECW Arena! Maff, a long-time fan of puro, takes it to the big man as best he can. This was the best match of the weekend, and sadly it took place on the one show I missed. NOTE: I will take this down if they do an English-language DVD release.

Kanemoto vs Hayato, BOSJ '11. These two had much-loved matches before, but I just couldn't get into them. The reason I enjoy this iteration is that they cram lots of fire and tricked-out counter wrestling into ten minutes. Something I think pretty much anyone can enjoy!

Tanahashi & Nagata vs Goto & Nakanishi, NJ 5/29/11. A New Japan heavyweight tag I really like! Why do I like it? Well, it's compact, energetic, and in front of a hot Korakuen crowd. There's several quality strike exchanges. Nakanishi's goofy charisma shines. Did I mention that it's at Korakuen?

Tanahashi vs Makabe, NJ G-1 Climax 8/7/11, JIP. For the nth time, the start of the match is pointless limb work so I lopped it off. The closing run features effective teases of their top rope finishers mixed in with a bevy of suplexes to keep you guessing. This is one of the few Tanahashi matchups that isn't played out, which I think is a lot of what makes it interesting.

Tanahashi vs Yano, New Japan G-1 Climax 2011. Let's see: I don't like most Tanahashi matches, and I dislike ALL Yano matches... and yet this one works. What could the difference be? Perhaps a little place called KORAKUEN HALL. Well, that, and Yano going all-out with every heel trick in the book plus a new finisher in the hopes of upsetting the champ. Tanahashi fans: trust me, Yano doesn't drag him down. Non-Tanahashi fans: trust me, this isn't his usual match.

Nakamura vs Naito, New Japan G-1 Climax 2011 final, JIP. Naito, who had a couple big wins before this year's G-1 but not many, is a HUGE underdog against shoulda-won-the-tournament-years-ago Nakamura. Naito lost his first three matches and swept the rest, including a quick win over Tanahashi earlier in the night with a unique cradle. Nakamura, by contrast, lost the night before and barely survived Minoru Suzuki to reach the finals. A hot crowd cheers on Naito as he tries to pull off the big one, but watch out, the Bomba Ye lurks around every corner!

Nagata vs Ishii, New Japan 11/12/11. I'm one of the few people who really enjoyed their 2010 bout. This one has the same strong points (strikes, Ishii-as-underdog) while cramming all the action into half the time. The result is a very complete match in under ten minutes that the crowd really gets behind.