Evolution In The Osaka Dome
Posted by Justin Baisden on 05.03.1997
Ogawa and Hashimoto kill each other for your amusement.
EVOLUTION IN OSAKA DOME 1997
It’s pretty much the end of my reviews on New Japan for 1997. I’ve covered the 01/04/1997 dome show, the Battle Formation Dome Show, the Best of Super Juniors tournament and the Airforce Wars J. I’m missing the “Four Heaven in Nagoya Dome” and “G-1 Climax 1997” so if anyone has those shows in master or EX 1st gen format, PLEASE EMAIL ME! I WANT THOSE SHOWS! I DO TRADES! MONEY TALKS!
On a completely different note, I’d like to give a hearty “FUCK YOU” to the Washington Redskins. Their sorry asses couldn’t get the job done in regulation time and I lost out on a $2200 payday on my Pro Line bet because of it. IT’S THE PANTHERS! WHY CAN’T YOU BEAT THE PANTHERS! Oh… while I’m on a football tangent, THE BILLS SUCK! YOU’RE GOING TO CHOKE ON FLUTIE FLAKES YOU UNGRATEFUL PUNKS! OK… now I’m done.
The last few weeks have been an interesting bit of hell. I had a nagging cough for a while but thought nothing of it because there were no “sniffles” to go along with the them. So two weeks pass and this strange lack of breathing takes hold of me. Let me tell you something, don’t take breathing for granted. If you ever lose your breath or have trouble breathing, you’ll thank the good lord if/when you get your breath back. Anyway, the doctor says I had a lung infection. Little things like oh…let’s see… talking, have been a real trial so you can imagine how hard it was for me to record my thoughts on this show. For those of you who don’t know, I rattle off onto a microcassette recorder before transcribing. Not all of us are rich kids with laptops. =D Anyway, this review is brought to you buy antiorcepretaline; kick ass prescription medication that lets me breathe.
As is the case with most dome shows, this is a two tape set. I think New Japan makes their shows run extra long so they can rape their fans for more money. Hmm…
TAPE #1 – NEW NEW NEW WORLD ORDER!
KENGO KIMURA vs SHIRO KOSHINAKA
Oh… boy. Well both guys are old as dirt but Koshinaka kicks many forms of ass so I won’t totally write this off. Actually, Kimura isn’t “that” bad, but I haven’t seen too much from him that really impresses me. It might have to do with his prime period being in the early eighties but hey… what do I know? First half bores the hell out of me as we learn the fine points of working the chinlock. Kimura switches things up with some leg work, pulling out one BAD ASS move in a standing figure four. DAMN! That looks painful! Kimura tries for the trademark running knee but Koshinaka blocks and hits ASS POWER followed up with a powerbomb for 2 and ½. Hmm… looks like Koshinaka stuffed his selling of the leg up his powerful ass because he’s walking just fine. The Dragon suplex gets 2 and ¾. Koshinaka goes for SUPER ASS POWER but Kimura blocks and goes for a German only to have Koshinaka get a standing switch and a German suplex of his own for 2 and ¾. Koshinaka hits the sunset flip but its reversed into a jacknife for 2 and ¾. Kimura goes for a backdrop suplex but Koshinaka falls on top and hits SUPER ASS POWER followed up with another powerbomb for the victory. The first half sucked and Koshinaka didn’t even sell the leg so now the first half sucked and it was pointless. The second half was good but couldn’t save this one. *1/2
NWO STING/SYXX vs TAKASHI IIZUKA/TADAO YASUDA
Waltman takes an absolute shitkicking from both guys. Comparing Pre neck injury Syxx to post neck injury X-Suck are like comparing night and day. Syxx bumps like a mad man and makes the New Japan guys look like a million bucks in the process. Solid action for the first half and then they pick it up big time at the end as the NWO bring the pain and Waltman puts it away with a nice jumping leg lariat followed up with a Northern Lights suplex. This was the Syxx show and everyone else was along for the ride. Fun ride at that. **
LEG LUGER/THE GIANT vs VICIOUS & DELICIOUS
Bagwell stalls… and poses… and stalls… and poses… and stalls… and poses. Luger yells a lot. Bagwell bitches him out and stalls… and poses… and stalls. FUCK THIS SHIT! The Giant gets the tag and makes Bagwell his bitch for a while. Norton gets the tag but The Giant wows everyone with the mammoth dropkick. Yeah that’s right, The Giant pulled out a dropkick, and a good one at that. But wait… is that an Enzugiri from The Giant? Why yes it is? Of course Norton is on the receiving end of this miracle of offense so it’s all no sold. Did I mention NWO Japan interfere near the end just to piss me off all the more? Of course the NWO win this one. Why me lord? -*
THE OUTSIDERS/MASAHIRO CHONO vs THE STEINER BROTHERS/KEIJI MUTOH
I had already seen this match on a compilation tape so I know it’s good. Now it’s a matter of seeing if my viewing can corroborate what my memory is telling me. The Outsiders work Scott Steiner over for a bit with their usual old school shit like the assisted abdominal stretch. I love that stuff. They need to tap the head more often. Hall gets greedy going for another one and Japan rule #1 kicks in as Steiner reverses into a Pumphandle Slam. Scott throws Hall around the ring and tags Rick who throws Hall around some more. The heels try to get all “what rules?” on Steiner but Rick has none of it and kicks everyone’s ass. The ring is cleared and they pull out a hilarious double doghouse pose. MONSTER POP! Back in the ring and it’s all heel work as the NWO settle it down and beat Scott around for a while. Build the heat, cue the hot tag. Rick gets the tag and mauls Hall. The Steiners hit the Bagwell Breaker but Nash makes the save. Pier six breaks out and Chono tries to hit a Yakuza kick but Scott’s all “sell? Hmm… that keeps me from suplexing your right? Nah… we can’t have that.” So he German suplexes Chono out of his shoes. Scott heads up top but Nash cuts him off and Hall hits the Outsider Edge but Mutoh makes the save. Mutoh and Chono end up outside and Nash plays dirty heel hitting Rick with the Jacknife Powerbomb, thus giving Hall the victory. Fun fun fun. ***
YOSHIAKI FUJIWARA/JUSHIN “THUNDER” LYGER vs ANTONIO INOKI/TIGER KING
YES YES YES! LYGER vs TIGER MASK! BRING THE NOISE! Lyger and Sayama bring all sorts of fun stuff and make me all giddy. Lyger’s all “welcome to the nineties” and Sayama’s all “fuck that shit, see this eighties stuff? IT RULES IT OVER YOU!” Sayama teaches Lyger a lesson in how to fake out a plancha a few million times (twice actually, I’m just really high on this match). Then they keep trying to one up each other with the kip ups and flip flops. I LOVE THIS STUFF! Both teams gets the tag and it’s the total opposite as the old men are all about the mat game. BOOOO! WE WANT MORE JUNIORS! They each tag again and I’m back on cloud nine as Sayama brings the stiff kicks and hits a JUMPING TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER but misses the swandive. Lyger’s all “HEY… OLD MAN… EAT THIS!” and DRILLS Sayama with a Brainbuster! HA HA! Lyger stays on the attack with a surfboard and switches into a butterfly stretch but Sayama turns it into an armbar and hits a stiff kick. Inoki gets the tag and tries to hit the rolling giri but Lyger’s all “HEY… OLD MAN… THIS IS A KOPPO KICK” and demonstrates on Inoki’s face! HA HA! Fujiwara gets the tag and beats on Inoki with the big headbutts. Inoki gets the tag and Sayama tries his luck but Fujiwara has none of it. That is until Sayama BRUTALIZES him with a roundhouse kick to the head. Turn out the lights, the party’s over, but wait… Sayama is the body that rocks the party so it keeps going. Inoki gets the tag and hits the big flying knee smash. THE CROWD IS ON FIRE! Inoki slaps on a sleeper and Sayama cuts Lyger off thus rendering old man Fujiwara helpless and forced to tap out. I LOVED THIS MATCH! It wasn’t crazy workrate wise but I marked out huge for Sayama vs Lyger. The heat was through the roof at times. Too bad NJPW never followed up with King vs Lyger in a singles match. ***
Halftime report: You wouldn’t know it by the ratings but this tape was a lot of fun to watch. The stupid WCW tag match pissed me off but they were going for laughs and I’m not big on comedy matches so my opinion may not be the best for that one. The final match was loads of fun and definitely left a smile on my face at the end. Let’s hope the second tape can leave me happy.
TAPE #2 – STIFF AS ALL HELL
KANEMOTO/OHTANI/TOGO/TEIOH/NAKAJIMA vs SASUKE/DELPHIN/HAMADA/HONAGA/SAMURAI (2/3 falls)
YES YES YES! Ohtani teaming up with Kaientai. IT’S BITCHMASTERS DELUXE! There’s just too much shit to cover with everyone flying around. The heels play total asshole punks; hitting all the usual KDX spots (five sentons, camel clutch – dropkick, etc…). The pussy nice guy juniors haven’t got a prayer. KDX is a sick team on it’s own, now they’ve got Kanemoto and THE BITCHMASTER with them. Who can stand up to that kind of heel super power? Bitchmaster Deluxe run roughshod and Kanemoto puts Delphin away with a Tiger Suplex while the heels doing the “count with the ref” spot for the first fall. Second fall is more of the same with the requisite trainwreck spot and nutty near falls with someone making the save at just the last second. Togo manages to put it away with the Diving Senton. ROCK ON! They were supposed to make this into a mega feud but Sasuke’s had his head cracked too many times and made some stupid decisions in the coming months. The first mistake being he tried to hardball Vince McMahon. Poor sap, didn’t know what was coming. Ah well… no sense in going on about what could have been when you’ve got great stuff in the here and now (so to speak). ****
KAZUO YAMAZAKI vs KENDO KA SHIN
As you would expect from these two, they went UWF-I shoot style. It was the best way to go as Yamazaki’s entire moveset is based around that style and Ka Shin works best with someone that can “go” with him on the ground. Lots of stiff strikes and good submissions. I found it interesting that Ka Shin elected to “ground n pound” more than go for submissions. He isn’t known as a hefty striker with punches or kicks. To me, it almost took away from the match as no one in their right mind believes that Ka Shin would go over via knockout. Yamazaki brings the pain with his usual super stiff kicks. Cue the ending as Yamazaki looks to have taken a legit thumb and/or shot to the eye. It’s totally swolen shut. They go into the ending sequence with a few escapes from suplex attemps until Yamazaki gets in a rear naked choke for the victory. Solid stuff all around keeps me happy. **
HIROYOSHI TENZAN vs TATSUMI FUJINAMI
Tenzan BRUTALIZES the old man with stiff kicks and chops. He makes the mistake of offering up a leg and Fujinami capitalizes with his trademark Dragon Screw. Fujinami plays the ground game and Tenzan surprisingly keeps up. He even manages to draw some heat as he puts Fujinami in the Dragon Sleeper. OOOHHH… DIRTY! Tenzan beats Fujinami around for a good while until he’s all “young man… RESPECT YOUR ELDERS” and slaps seven kinds of taste out of Tenzan’s mouth. OUCH! Fujinami slaps on the Sleeper – Dragon Sleeper but Tenzan punks him out with a knee to the head. Tenzan goes on the attack with the Mountain Bomb followed up with the Swandive Headbutt for 2 and ½. He misses the Moonsault and Fujinami gets a Small Package for 2 and ¾. A second one gets 2 and 9/10. Tenzan is pissed and of course makes a stupid mistake as Fujinami capitalizes on a blind charge with an Abdominal Stretch into a cradle for the victory. I wasn’t expecting much as I’m not really big on Fujinami’s methodical style. I also prefer Tenzan in tag matches. But hey… I’m glad to see I was wrong about this one. Above average stuff from both guys. ***
SATOSHI KOJIMA/MANABU NAKANISHI vs RIKI CHOSYU/KENSUKE SASAKI (IWGP Tag Team Titles)
Oy… this was definitely a case of the young guys doing everything they could to hang with the big boys. The champs beat Kojima and Nashanishi from pillar to post for a good 90% of the match. FINALLY Kojima gets the hot tag and they hit Chosyu with a double Superplex. More double teaming as they hit a Spike Piledriver. What is it with NJPW tag title matches and the Spike Piledriver? They used it at the January dome show, and again at the Battle Formation show. And now we have it a third time. The champs are in trouble as Kojima slaps on a Dragon Sleeper but Chosyu makes the ropes. Nakanishi comes in and puts Sasaki in the Argentine Backbreaker, giving Kojima time to go back to the Dragon Sleeper to get the major upset submission. WOO HOO! NEW CHAMPS! The whole idea of face in peril was taken to the extreme in this one. It was almost squash city for a while there. I think the match could have allowed for a bit more balance between the teams while still putting over the idea of the young guns trying to overthrow the surly vet and his big protege. Ah well… it was still solid. **1/2
NAOYA OGAWA vs SHINYA HASHIMOTO (IWGP Heavyweight Title)
The set up for this one was pretty simple. Ogawa went over Hashimoto in a non title match at the Battle Formation show a few weeks prior to this one. So the obvious next step is a re-match, this time with the gold on the line. Ah… for the days of simple booking. As for the match, unlike the rest of the matches between these two, this one came off as a good “match” rather than a good “fight.” They showed clips of Hashimoto training with various people on different defenses for Ogawa’s moves. Brilliantly, they incorporated all of those defensive measures into the match. As always with these two, the heat in the dome was through the roof. Unlike the rest, this was enjoyable to watch from a wrestling perspective. Super stiff strikes with some solid submissions and high impact moves at just the right moments gave this match a great feel. I believe this is the one and only match where Hashimoto scores a victory over Ogawa. The crowd reaction to his knockout kick and subsequent throwing in the towel from second Satoru Sayama was absolutely explosive. This is where the feud should have ended. Each guy got a win, NJPW made a lot of money and no one lost any credibility. Of course life didn’t turn out that way. Hashimoto would go on to lose twice more, devastating his standing within the eyes of the fans forever. He’s still a great worker and a big draw but I doubt Hashimoto will ever be looked at in the same light as he was before the Ogawa feud started up. Of course hindsight is 20/20 and all that jazz so I’ll end it right there. ***1/2
Final Analysis: With the exception of the junior ten man tag, there wasn’t really anything that truly stood out from the pack. However, the vast majority of the stuff on this show was rock solid and fun to watch. This isn’t a card you should definitely go out of your way to acquire but if you’ve got the extra cash, “Evolution in Osaka Dome 1997” wouldn’t be a bad purchase at all. Mildly recommended.
