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New Japan TV 1/25:
This show was taped on 1/20 in Naha, Okinawa. The show opened with Hiro Saito and Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Keiji Muto and Osamu Nishimura. Muto and Nishimura worked on Tenzan’s leg. Tenzan broke the hold with his power and got heat on Nishimura. Saito tagged in and did a senton on Nishimura, for a near fall. Nishimura reversed Tenzan’s powerbomb and tagged in Muto. Muto did a Dragon screw on Tenzan. Nishimura dove from the top, but his dropkick attempt on Muto backfired. Tenzan and Saito tried a team move but Muto and Nishimura escaped. They did double back-suplex on their opponents. Muto put Saito in Figure 4 while Nishimura threw Tenzan with a Northern Lights suplex, getting a two count. Tenzan came back with a mountain bomb on Nishimura. Saito followed that with a senton. Then, Tenzan did a diving head butt and got the pin on Nishimura in 13:46.
The next match had Kazuo Yamazaki take on Kuniaki Kobayashi. It was joined in progress at with Kobayashi putting Yamazaki in a leg lock. Yamazaki reversed it but Kobayashi rolled through and put Yamazaki in an arm bar. Yamazaki stood up, kicked him, powerbombed him, and put Kobayashi in a Figure Four. Kobayashi escaped to the ropes but Yamazaki did it to him again. Kobayashi escaped again so Yamazaki kicked him and then put Kobayashi in an arm bar. Yamazaki missed a spinning wheel kick and “injured†his knee. Kobayashi did a fisherman suplex for a near fall. Yamazaki put Kobayashi in an arm bar suddenly and Kobayashi submitted at the ten minute mark. Awful match.
Next up, Jushin Thunder Liger and El Samurai took on Koji Kanemoto and Shinjiro Otani. Kanemoto kicked Samurai in the face and Otani dropped a knee on him. Then, Otani and Kanemoto did legdrops on Samurai and Liger couldn’t make the save. Samurai managed to hit a forearm smash on Kanemoto on his way back from the ropes, did a piledriver, and tagged in Liger. Liger dropkicked Kanemoto’s knee. Then, Samurai and Liger started to work on it but Kanemoto belly-to-belly suplexed Samurai, and followed that with a rolling senton. Both changed partners. Liger splashed Otani, then did a brainbuster on him, but Otani kicked out. Samurai did a tope on Kanemoto, who was outside, while Liger did a diving head butt, which missed the mark. Otani then did a springboard spinkick, but Samurai made the save. Samurai did a reverse DDT on Otani, followed by a powerbomb. Liger did a Ligerbomb but Kanemoto made the save. Liger hit an open-hand blow but the next moment, Otani did two Huracanranas and rolled Liger up for the pin. Not a good match.
The TV main event saw Shinya Hashimoto, Junji Hirata, Kensuke Sasaki, Manabu Nakanishi, and Satoshi Kojima take on Kengo Kimura, Tatsutoshi Goto, Akira Nogami, Ohara, and Akitoshi. Ohara and Kojima were starters. A ten man tag match is very hard to describe. The all New Japan team did diving foot stomps on Nogami. Hashimoto then put him in leglock but Kimura made the save. Hirata did a gutbuster and diving head butt, then a Ligerbomb, but Goto made the save. Goto did a back suplex on Hirata and Kimura pinned Hirata with a leg lariat. Ishingun got the first fall in only 3:36. The second fall was on Nogami by Sasaki with a powerslam in 11:18. In the final, Sasaki did a belly-to-belly on Akitoshi, followed by a clothesline and a cover, but Goto saved him. Kojima tagged in and Akitoshi did a vertical suplex on him. Kimura hit a leg lariat and got a two count. Ohara did a neckbreaker, then a powerbomb, and also got a two count. Goto came in and did a back suplex but Nakanishi made the save. Kojima did a clothesline on Akitoshi and tagged in Hashimoto. Hashimoto did a spinkick and tried for a brainbuster but the Ishingun team all attacked him. Akitoshi tried a spinkick, but Hashimoto chopped it down. Hashimoto chopped Akitoshi’s neck and the whole New Japan team came in and trashed the Ishingun team. Hashimoto DDTd Akitoshi for the pin in 11:15. The New Japan team won by a score of 2-1. The main event was just so-so, but the whole program was weak.
All Japan TV 1/26:
This show was taped on 1/17 at Matsumoto. This is week two of that taping. It opened with Mitsuharu Misawa taking on Tamon Honda. They started slowly, doing mat moves. Misawa kept working on Honda’s arm. Honda pushed Misawa to the ropes but Misawa responded with two forearm smashes and took him down. Misawa then put Honda in a sleeper hold. Honda sold it for the first five minutes. Then, Misawa put him in a face lock but Honda escaped to the ropes. Honda started to come back with some head butts and punches, but got nailed by Misawa forearms again. Honda clotheslined Misawa in the corner and followed it up with a neckbreaker, getting a two count. Honda tried a back suplex but Misawa didn’t sell. Misawa hit a forearm smash again and tried for a Tigerdriver but Honda escaped. Honda did a neckbreaker and a diving head butt, getting a two count. Honda then did a dangerous belly-to-back suplex on Misawa. Misawa escaped outside but Honda hit him with a plancha. Back in the ring, Honda went for a cover and got a near fall. Then he did a Ligerbomb, also getting a two count. Misawa hit a forearm smash and a diving splash. Then a Tigerdriver, but Honda kicked out. Misawa ran to the ropes and came off with a forearm smash, getting the 1-2-3 in 11:26. The only hot spot was Honda’s belly-to-back suplex.
The TV main event had Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama, and The Eagle vs. Stan Hansen, Takao Omori and Bobby Duncam. The Eagle threw Duncam outside and then did a plancha. Akiyama tagged in, as did Omori. They exchanged some chops, forearm smashes and other moves. Kobashi came in, gave a shoulder block to Omori, and then did a vertical suplex before Hansen came in and made the save. Then, Hansen and Duncam nailed Kobashi on the outside. Back in the ring, Hansen and Omori kept on working on Kobashi. Kobashi tagged in Eagle, and there were some missed some moves. Hansen then nailed him. Omori came in and dropped his knee on Eagle. Eagle was captured by Hansen’s team for a while. Hansen slammed Eagle and Omori dropped his elbow on him before Akiyama made the save. Eagle finally managed to tag in Kobashi. Omori hit a spinkick on Kobashi at the 15 minute mark. Duncam tried for a bulldog on Kobashi but Akiyama interfered. Kobashi then pinned Duncam with a lariat in 16:11. Boring match.
New Japan TV 2/1:
This show was taped on 1/29 in Fukushima. It opened with the NWO lower level team Marcus Bagwell and Scott Norton vs. Kensuke Sasaki and Satoshi Kojima. Bagwell and Norton appeared as the first attack from the “nWo.†Kojima beat Bagwell up, but Norton was too tough for him, or even for Sasaki. Yes, Norton was wearing his nWo gimmick but his style was what he used to do in the New Japan rings, which really points out how little he does in the WCW rings. Anyway, Sasaki powerslammed Norton and gave clotheslines to both of them. Kojima dropped an elbow on Bagwell but Norton came back and powerslammed them both. Then, Norton lifted Kojima into a powerbomb, Bagwell jumped from the top turnbuckle, going for a diving clothesline or something. Bagwell missed the move, barely touching Kojima. It did not matter I guess because Kojima was pinned by Bagwell in 9:09. Not a good debut (for the nWo).
The next match saw Jushin Liger and El Samurai take on Koji Kanemoto and Chris Jericho (who has as we reported earlier dropped the “Super Liger†gimmick). Liger put Kanemoto in a Romero special, then Samurai dropped a double axe handle on him. Kanemoto got Samurai’s leg and threw him with a Dragon screw. Jericho tagged in for a bit but soon tagged in Kanemoto. Kanemoto did a somersault drop from the second turnbuckle. Kanemoto invited Liger in and then threw him with a belly-to-belly suplex when he came. Kanemoto kicked Liger and then powerbombed him but Samurai made the save. Kanemoto did a moonsault press and got a two count. Liger tagged in Samurai. Samurai did a Frankensteiner from the top rope, also getting a two count. Samurai powerbombed Kanemoto while Jericho did a dropkick from the top turnbuckle onto Liger, who was on the floor. Jericho came back to the ring quickly and made the save. Kanemoto tagged in Jericho. Jericho did a fisherman’s buster and a Lionsault on Samurai, hooked the leg, but only got a two count. Jericho tried to German suplex Samurai but Liger came in to interfere with an open-hand blow. Liger and Samurai then did double diving headbutts. Liger did a fisherman’s buster on Jericho from the top for the pin at 13:07. So-so match.
Tatsumi Fujinami and Kengo Kimura then took on Kazuo Yamazaki and Takashi Iizuka. Yamazaki and Iizuka worked on Fujinami’s leg early. As everybody may know, Fujinami and Kimura don’t look at all attractive as a championship team. The fans were all calm until the end. The only part for which the fans popped was when Iizuka was putting Kimura in knee cross scissors. Fujinami did a Dragon screw, and then a Figure Four, on Iizuka and made him submit at 16:16.
The TV main event saw Shinya Hashimoto and Manabu Nakanishi vs. Keiji Muto and Junji Hirata. Muto and Hirata are the next challengers for the IWGP tag title on 2/8. They showed good tag team moves. Hirata and Hashimoto exchanged clotheslines and chops, which made the fans pop. Hashimoto did a spinkick on Hirata, then gave him some kicks in the mid section, getting a n ear fall. Hashimoto then dropkicked Hirata. Nakanishi tagged in and Hirata did a jumping bomb on him. Muto came in and did a face crusher, but was thrown by duck-under and was caught in the torture rack. Hirata made the save. Muto did a Frankensteiner on Nakanishi, the a Dragon screw, and then put him in a Figure four for the win in 16:04. It was the exact same finish as in the preceding match. It was not bad as a preview of the challengers for their title shot next week.
All Japan TV 2/2:
This show was taped on 1/20 in Osaka and was the Triple Crown match between Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa. The match went over forty minutes so only the latter half was aired. Both were already sweaty when they joined the match. Misawa did some forearm smashes. Kobashi revenged them with chops, kicks, and knee lifts. Misawa hit an elbow and Kobashi fell from the ring. Kobashi was laid across the iron guard rail when Misawa jumped from the apron, going for a diving forearm smash, but Kobashi escaped, so Misawa crashed into the guard rail with his arm. Misawa came back to the apron and Kobashi gave him a lariat. Misawa fell to the floor. Kobashi brought Misawa back into the ring and Misawa was holding his injured elbow. Kobashi worked over the injury by kicking him there. Kobashi then took him outside and nailed Misawa’s elbow with the guard rail. Back in the ring, Kobashi worked on Misawa’s elbow with some arm breakers. The fans chanted Misawa’s name. They then cut to Kobashi going for a lariat but Misawa giving him a forearm smash in a counter move. Kobashi looked as if he had injured his arm. Misawa did a somersault plancha on Kobashi outside. It was not a beautiful move but surely did some damage. Misawa covered him for a two count only.
Misawa did a flying clothesline, then tried for a Tigerdriver but Kobashi blocked it. Then Misawa threw him with a belly-to-back suplex. Misawa did a Tigerdriver, getting another near fall. Misawa went for a dropkick from the top but Kobashi did a lariat on him while he was in the air, covered him, and got a two count at the thirty minute time mark. Kobashi powerbombed him for another near fall. Kobashi then dropped his leg on the back of Misawa’s head. Then he lifted Misawa in a vertical suplex move but switched it into a powerbomb! It’s called the “orange crushâ€! This hot move did not get a pin though. Kobashi did another lariat, but Misawa blocked it with his arms. Misawa escaped to the apron as Kobashi chased him. There, he tried for a powerbomb to the floor but Misawa switched it into Hurancanrana. Kobashi spun and fell to the floor as 35 minutes passed. Both came back in the ring but couldn’t stand up. Misawa did a forearm smash and back suplex. Misawa did a spinning elbow, and then another. He went for a third shot but Kobashi did a lariat. Kobashi threw Misawa with a belly-to-back suplex and then run towards Misawa, trying to hit a lariat, but Misawa ducked it and gave him a headbutt in his gut. Then, Misawa hit a forearm smash on the back of Kobashi’s neck. Misawa threw Kobashi with a Tiger suplex and covered again for a near fall. Misawa stood up, lifted Kobashi with a Tigerdriver-like move, and dropped Kobashi vertically. But Kobashi kicked out as 40 minutes passed. This started a big “Kobashi†chant in the crowd. Kobashi did a lariat but his power had already been lost. Misawa did a Tiger suplex. Kobashi was in the middle of the ring when Misawa stepped back to the corner, roared something, dashed and hit a forearm smash, covered, 1-2-3.
Misawa regained triple crown in 42:06 after this awesome match.
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