SUPER JUNIOR TAG LEAGUE 1994
The show opens up with a highlight reel of each of the wrestlers. The teams are:
Black Tiger and The Great Sasuke
Wild Pegasus and Shinjiro Ohtani
El Samurai and Flying Scorpio
Gran Hamada and Norio Honaga
TAKA Michinoku and Super Delphin
Dean Malenko and Kendo Ka Shin
Yuki Ishikawa and Shoichi Funaki
Masayoshi Motegi and Kamikaze
The teams look pretty good but you can tell who the jobbers are right from the beginning.
MALENKO/ISHIZAWA vs FUNAKI ISHIKAWA
You can tell this is all ground-based work. Malenko works over a hammerlock on Ishikawa. It’s turned into an armbar, which is reversed into an ankle lock submission. Ishizawa and Funaki are tagged in respectively and they’re going at each other like mad. Ishizawa is just bitch slapping Funaki like no tomorrow. I don’t know if there was some kind of underlying feud but this is just nasty looking. Not very professional looking either. Anyway, Malenko is eventually tagged in and works over Funaki’s leg for a bit. The middle portion of this match is pretty boring. Malenko ends it with a powerbomb into The Texas Cloverleaf on Funaki. This match wasn’t bad but it was hardly good. I’d give it **
MOTEGI/KAMIKAZE vs SAMURAI/SCORPIO
Motegi and Samurai start out and work each other with a wrist lock. Scorpio gets in there and exchanges some chops with Motegi. Kamikaze gets in there and lays some kicks on Scorpio. Scorpio retaliates with some forearms. Irish whip and Kamikaze hits a spinning wheel kick. Scorpio attempts a dropkick and Kamikaze pretty much steps backward about ½ a foot. HA HA! I love spots like that because they make the most sense but are never done. Kamikaze hits Scorpio with a lariat. Scorpio break dances up, and hits Kamikaze with a sidekick. Samurai is tagged in and hits a piledriver. He hits a really nice hangman’s neckbreaker as well. Samurai hits the Thunder Fire Powerbomb but Motegi breaks it up. Scorpio is tagged in they hit Kamikaze with a double elbow. Scorpio hits a nice looking Vader Crush Splash. Scorpio hits Kamikaze with a nice looking powerslam, which is followed up by a Samurai legdrop. Samurai hits Kamikaze with a Saito suplex. Kamikaze takes control with a low blow. Tag to Motegi who hits a missile dropkick. Samurai pushes Motegi into his corner. Scorpio is tagged in, slams Motegi and then hits a standing somersault legdrop. NICE!!! The crowd pops pretty big for that one. Scorpio tops that with a gorgeous standing Moonsault for two. Samurai is tagged back up but Motegi catches him in a snap suplex. Kamikaze tags in and hits a swandive headbutt. He hits a fisherman’s suplex but Scorpio breaks it up at two. Motegi is back in. Samurai is thrown outside and Motegi hits a really nice tope suicida. It’s rare that you see a tope where the guys’ feet don’t touch the ropes at all. Scorpio tops the tope with a pretty good tope con Hilo. Kamikaze tops that with a somersault Plancha. Nice looking train wreck spot if I do say so myself. Jump to the end as Scorpio hits a SWEET looking Moonsault for two. He hits Kamikaze with a Superkick and then ends it with the 450 splash. This match was above solid and gets ***1/4
MICHINOKU/DELPHIN vs HONAGA/HAMADA
This match looks like the battle of Michinoku Pro. Except for the fact that Michinoku Pro didn’t exist at this point in time. Well… Honaga is in there as well. I really don’t like Honaga. He’s a pretty poor junior in my opinion. Whatever… onto the match. Submission city until TAKA goes for a rear chinlock. Honaga breaks the hold by BITING TAKA’S THUMB! He even holds onto the thumb as they get to a vertical position so everyone knows he’s a closet cannibal. Honaga and Hamada take control with their usual stuff. Nothing flashy about these two which I really don’t like in a junior tournament. TAKA and Delphin take control with TAKA reversing an Irish whip into the corner and hitting a flying forearm, then a bodyslam, and then a springboard splash. That was a really nice sequence. TAKA throws Honaga outside but fakes out on his springboard Plancha. Honaga re-takes control. Hamada is tagged in and hits a floatover suplex for two. Honaga is tagged in but TAKA takes control. He tags Delphin and they do a really pompous spot where Honaga is placed in the tree of woe and the Delphin steps on his crotch while taunting the crowd. I LOVE THAT SPOT! Tajiri does it just that much better by bouncing up and down on the guys crotch. Back to the match as Delphin hits a dropkick, which is following up by a springboard splash by TAKA. These two work really well as a team. TAKA puts Hamada in an abdominal stretch. Honaga walks up to him, takes a good five seconds to look TAKA in the face as if to say "respect your elders young man" and then slaps the taste out of his mouth. Jump to the end as Hamada nails TAKA with a powerbomb for two. A belly to back suplex ends the match. Obviously the young TAKA was the one to job in this one. The match was solid and gets ***
PEGASUS/OHTANI vs SASUKE/TIGER
OH BABY!!! These two teams simply can’t put on a bad match. It’s just impossibility. Pegasus and Tiger start out and exchange armdrags. Pegasus wins a grecko roman knuckle lock. Tiger headscissors Benoit out of the knucklelock. Wow… I’ve never seen that one before. Ohtani is tagged in but Tiger escapes and tags in Sasuke. Whoa, he got a huge pop. Sasuke was really over at this point. Ohtani works over the arm for a bit and then Benoit is tagged in. He takes Sasuke’s head off with a vicious lariat. Irish whip but Sasuke hits a spinning wheel kick. Black Tiger and Ohtani are tagged in respectively. Guerrero hits the bodyslam to slingshot Senton spot. Sasuke is back in and nails Ohtani with a disgusting kick to the head. Ohtani would have been better off taking a shot to the head with a lead pipe. What a kick! Tiger is back in and hits Ohtani with a lariat. Ohtani looks dead. Ohtani finally gets a tag to Benoit who hits an elbow on Tiger. Sasuke is back in but it met with a German suplex for two. Benoit with a snap suplex for two. WILDBOMB! is broken up by Guerrero. BENOIT IS PISSED! Guerrero invites Benoit out to the apron for a scrap. What a jerk! I love it! Ohtani is back in and slaps on a half boston. Black Tiger walks in the ring, looks Ohtani in the face and gives him the old Piper eye poke. HA HA! Benoit puts Sasuke in a Scorpion Deathlock and taunts Black tiger while holding Sasuke. Who the hell is the heel team in this thing? Eddie tries to save his partner but Benoit has none of it and takes Guerrero down with a lariat. Ohtani back in and hits a tombstone piledriver for two. Benoit back in and hits a super belly to back suplex. Eddie saves Sasuke yet again. Ohtani back in with a powerbomb on Sasuke but it’s broken up by Guerrero. Wow, is Eddie ever taking some heel heat. Really sweet double team as Benoit sets up Sasuke for the Dragon Suplex. He’s cinched up in the full nelson position, Ohtani kicks Sasuke in the face just as Benoit takes him over for the Dragon Suplex. Guerrero breaks it up. Wicked sequence as Benoit lifts up Sasuke for the WILDBOMB! and brings him down as Ohtani hits his springboard dropkick. Just amazing tag work here. Black Tiger breaks up the pin at 2 99/100. Sasuke is just playing punishment boy here with Tiger saving his ass over and over. The ending comes as Benoit puts Sasuke on his shoulders but Sasuke reverses and puts Benoit into a sunset flip for the three count. This was an amazing match! ****1/2
SEMI FINALS
MALENKO/ISHIZAWA vs OHTANI/PEGASUS
Match is clipped a little but it’s still in the submission stage of the show. Ohtani and Malenko fight over a leg lock. Ohtani lets go and tags Benoit. Benoit beats Malenko around for a bit and then hits a German suplex. Benoit with a body slam and goes to the top for the swandive headbutt but Malenko recovers and dropkicks Benoit back down. Benoit falls on his knee and Malenko goes for the Cloverleaf. Benoit kicks out of it. Irish whip which nets Benoit a blind tag to Ohtani. Malenko hits a powerbomb and goes for the cloverleaf again but Ohtani (the legal man) hits a springboard sunset flip on Malenko for two. It’s too bad Benoit and Ohtani spent so much time fighting each other over the years. They could have been one of the greatest teams ever. Ohtani goes for a victory roll but he’s dropped on his face. Malenko slaps on the cloverleaf for the third time in about five minutes. Benoit comes in and beats Malenko over the head with forearm shots. Malenko lets go of the hold. He goes for a suplex but Ohtani reverses and attempts a German suplex. Ishizawa makes the save. Malenko goes for a cross leg bar but Ohtani escapes. Malenko tags in Ishizawa who hits a gross looking released German suplex. We’re not in All Japan guys; none of that stuff please. Ishizawa puts on the kiwi (rolling sunset flips) which nets him a two count. Benoit and Malenko fight outside and Ishizawa goes for the kiwi a second time but Ohtani reverses the move and gets the pin. This match was really short and clipped. From what I saw, it gets **1/4
SASUKE/TIGER vs HONAGA/HAMADA
Again this match is clipped but just as in the last match, the clipping isn’t too deep into the match. Hamada and Sasuke start out with a wristlock sequence. Sasuke wins it and bodyslams Hamada. Tiger is tagged in and hits the prone Hamada with a slingshot Senton. He holds Hamada down while Sasuke hits a slingshot Senton of his own. That was a sweet looking spot. Hamada eventually tags Honaga who pancakes Tiger. Black Tiger reverses a second try into a rana. Another Irish whip and Honaga attempts a tilt a whirl back breaker but it’s reversed into a flying headscissors. Sasuke is tagged in Honaga is placed in a bow and arrow. Honaga kicks out of it and tags Hamada. Hamada fires off a nice lariat on Sasuke. The crowd is DEAD! Hamada puts Sasuke in a rear chinlock. What happens? I laugh a lot because Tiger comes into the ring, looks at Hamada and then pokes him in the eye. I just can’t get enough of that. It’s like the move that outright never fails to have an impact. A little later on in the match, Honaga is working over Sasuke’s leg. He puts him in a figure four-leg lock and how is it broken up? POKE IN THE EYE! It’s just friggin genius here. Believe it or not, the eye poke is one of the few moves that’s getting a decent pop from this crowd. Jump to the end as Hamada attempts to go for a huracanrana but Black Tiger reverses it into a sunset flip for the pin. This match is decent but could have been better. ***
FINALS
PEGASUS/OHTANI vs SASUKE/TIGER
The match starts out with the two teams laying down some verbal abuse on each other. Guerrero the cocky bastard whips Benoit in the face with his cape. HA… now that’s original. A brawl breaks out and Guerrero throws Benoit into some chairs. Then he BEATS THE CRAP out of Benoit with the chair. It pains me to watch Benoit take this kind of punishment but Eddie is dishing it out so it’s all good. Benoit is thrown into the ring and Ohtani is thrown out of the ring. Black Tiger BEATS THE CRAP out of Ohtani with the chair now. This is just really funny in a sick sort of way. Finally we enter the ring and the bell is rung. In the ring and tiger sets up Ohtani for a suplex and Sasuke hits a cross body block from the top for a two count. Tiger puts Ohtani on his shoulders and Sasuke comes off of the top with a Thesz Press for a two count. Sasuke slams Ohtani and hits the slingshot Senton. Tiger is tagged in and hits his own slingshot senton. I’d have to say that Guerrero and Sasuke have the two best slingshot sentons in wrestling today with CIMA Nobunga of Toryumon coming in a very close third. Anyway back to the match as Ohtani is crawling to get out of the ring. It looks like he’s had enough already but Ohtani, who sold being spat in the face like he was shot in the head during the 1995 Super Junior tournament always looks dead so that should tell you something. Sasuke pulls him back in and slaps on a half boston. Sasuke lets go and tags in Tiger. Eddie hits a delayed brainbuster for a two count. I really like that move. The blood rushes to the brain and then you drop him on his head. It’s brilliant when you think about it. Black Tiger applies a Scorpion Deathlock and then taunts Benoit just as he was taunted during the round robin tournament. I’m really impressed that they carried the heat over from the previous match with stuff like this. Pegasus enters the ring and nails Tiger with a forearm shot. Taunt Benoit eh? That’s what you get for your trouble. An Irish whip is reversed by Ohtani, duckdown and leapfrog but Tiger comes back with a decapitating lariat. Ohtani is just absolutely dead. The camera gets a really good look at his face. The eyes are shut and it doesn’t even look like he’s breathing. Tiger attempts to pick up Ohtani but he’s just limp. This is just an amazing sell job by Ohtani. Finally Ohtani is pulled up. Irish whip by Tiger but Ohtani meets him with a jumping wheel kick. Tiger falls outside the ring and Ohtani hits his springboard swandive Plancha. Back in the ring and Benoit is finally tagged into the match. Irish whip and Benoit rips off Tiger’s head with a lariat. Another Irish whip and Benoit hits a tilt a whirl back breaker for two. Benoit attempts a German suplex but it’s met with a low blow. Sasuke goes for a cross arm breaker but Benoit has the foot on the rope. Sasuke goes for it again but it’s blocked again. Benoit manages to reverse the hold into a bow and arrow submission. Can you guess what happens? Eddie pokes Benoit in the eyes. You’d think this was getting tired by now but it’s still hilarious. Pegasus slams Sasuke and Ohtani is tagged in. Irish whip by Sasuke but is met with a shoulderblock. Another Irish whip, Sasuke with a duckdown and leapfrog. He attempts a hip toss but it’s blocked and Ohtani goes for a lariat. It’s ducked and Sasuke hits him with a reverse cradle for two. Sasuke and Ohtani fight over a number of pinning combinations; each getting a two count. The crowd is really starting to get into this match. Sasuke is hit with a dropkick and falls into the wrong part of town. That town being Pegasus/Ohtani ville. Pegasus gets back in and hits a Northern Lights suplex but Tiger breaks it up at two. Benoit hits a BUCKWILDBOMB! Goddamn that looked painful. Tiger makes the save at two. Benoit is PISSED and beats the crap out of Tiger on the apron. Ohtani is tagged back in and goes to the top. Benoit puts Sasuke on his shoulders and Ohtani missile dropkicks Sasuke. Sasuke is picked up and is hit with a German suplex, which is broken up at two and a ½. Sasuke finally manages to recover a little and clocks Ohtani in the head with a disgusting kick. Forget the lead pipe that Ohtani would have wanted in the round robin. He’d be better off with a gunshot to the head instead of that kick. Ohtani slaps on a half boston but Sasuke gets to the ropes? Ohtani is like "what ropes?" and refuses to let go of the hold. I LOVE THIS GUY! Ohtani finally lets go and Sasuke makes him pay… well not really. He slams Ohtani and tags in Black Tiger who hits the frog splash. Of course that's not enough because this match rocks too much for it to end now. Tiger hits a floatover bridging fallaway slam. Ohtani is placed on the top and is hit with a top rope rana. Ohtani is limp yet again and the crowd is chanting his name to get him back in to the match. The Gory Special (submission version) is slapped on. Sasuke comes off of the top with a double ax handle while Ohtani is in the hold. Sasuke places Ohtani in a cross leg bar, which is reversed into another leg bar by Ohtani. Black Tiger does his eye poke thang yet again. Pegasus is tagged in and places Sasuke on the top for a superplex. Benoit with the cover but it’s broken up. Benoit hits the Dragon Suplex for 2 ¾. Benoit is in disbelief. Benoit rolls to the outside and Sasuke hits a SWEET top rope Plancha. Back in the ring where Sasuke attempts a Moonsault but it misses. Benoit capitalizes with a WILDBOMB! A heart wrenching 2 9/10 count comes out of that. Benoit goes for a Super Belly to Back suplex but Sasuke reverses in mid air and it gets 2 and ¾. These are just nail biting near falls. Tiger back in and Benoit goes for another WILDBOMB! but no dice. Tiger hits a springboard huracanrana. Tiger hits a really nice brainbuster. Ohtani stops the count at 2 and ½. Tiger with the German suplex but it’s reversed into the dragon suplex for two. Ohtani back in and he goes for the German suplex but it’s reversed by Tiger for two. Tiger with a LYGERBOMB! for a two count. Tiger hits the Crucifix Power Bomb but that’s broken up at two. Tiger with the Tornado DDT but it’s broken up at two. Sasuke throws Pegasus to the outside and attempts the Quebrada Moonsault but Benoit moves out of the way. Sasuke is out cold and you can see the end of this match coming. Benoit set up Guerrero on his shoulders and Ohtani comes off of the top with THE GUILLOTINE HURACANRANA! Unfortunately the move is botched and it looks like Guerrero got a powerbomb reversal because he didn’t go over with the move. Ohtani recovers, cinches up Tiger for the Dragon Suplex and with Sasuke unconscious on the outside, it gets a three count. This match is one of my favourites of all time. The only blemish is the botched rana at the end, which I’m sure, was supposed to end the match on a very strong note. ****3/4
It’s too bad that New Japan dropped the idea of running a junior tag league each year. Taking out the crap like Funaki, Ishikawa, Kamikaze and Honaga and replacing them with Lyger, Kanemoto, Jericho, and Ultimo Dragon could have made this the greatest tag tournament ever. Of that I am most sure. As it is, this is another great tape for any Puroresu fan to add to their collection. The two Sasuke/Tiger vs Pegasus/Ohtani matches are pure gold and make the tape worth trading/purchasing for. I’d kill to see Benoit/Guerrero vs The Hardy Boyz because I think that’s the only junior match that could come close to touching the final match on this tape. Super Junior Tag League 1994 gets my highest recommendation.
Justin Baisden
Rolling Germans Wrestling
