WAR Wrestle And Romance ~ First Anniversary Of Revolution~ 06/17/93

Wrestle And Romance

Tokyo, Japan
Nippon Budokan
Attendance: 14,000

Previously In WAR…

Masao Orihara competed in NJPW’s round robin Top Of The Super J ’93 and left with the lowest score. He’s not on this anniversary show presumably because of the shame he brought to WAR.

The show was originally released across two tapes with the match card all switched around but thanks to modern technology (browsing Cagematch) we can watch it as God (Volk Han) intended. So let’s jump into the most-attended show in WAR’s history and easily their biggest show to date!

Nobukazu Hirai & Yuji Yasuraoka vs. Black Cat & Osamu Nishimura

This is Black Cat’s WAR debut as well as Osamu’s only WAR appearance. If only the same could be said for their opponents. There’s much arguing and shoving to start to remind us NJPW are indeed still beefing with WAR. It works though as the crowd are sizzling like a stir fry at these guys giving each other the business. Yasuraoka gets a hot minute of high flying before Hirai does little and Cat gets a bigger pop for countering a duck-down with an elbow. Yasuraoka starts chopping away at Cat, not knowing his moment is over and Cat simply PUNCHES HIM IN THE FACE to counter. Yikes. Nishimura applies a lengthy anklelock to allow him to recover before Cat lariats Yasuraoka very hard and effortlessly applying a Canadian Backbreaker. Black Cat does not like these WAR newbies. Neither does Nishimura, who dropkicks Hirai directly in the face. Hirai and Yasuraoka manage a weak Doomsday Device variant on Cat and a crossbody off the top to little reaction, followed by Cat blocking a Sunset Flip by butt dropping onto Yasuraoka to a big reaction. Man, he went full Mabel at Summerslam ’95 on that one. the NJPW lads both apply abominable stretches with Cat urging the ref to check his opponent first to end it at 12:08. Black Cat was almost Cronenberg in his body horror treatment of the WAR guys. Apart from that, nothing much here.

Ultimo Dragon vs. Norio Honaga

I don’t know anything about Norio but he tries to attack Ultimo at the very start, tricking him into diving on the outside so he can splat him on his own dive. He seems cool. We cut ahead to Ultimo landing a tilt-a-whirl before getting upset at the lack of crowd reaction and asks for the fan’s help in submitting Norio to a Single Crab. Crowd are like “we’re saving ourselves for later, also it’s not 1971 we know he ain’t tapping.” Norio hits Ultimo in his Dragon Balls and decides this is the body part to work over. Well if the ref’s not going to say anything then go for it. Ultimo does an impressive job of selling them without it seeming comical. Eventually a Tombstone sets up the Handspring and a top rope crossbody to the outside so I assume he got better. Contractually Obligated Mexican Surfboard tricks Ultimo into attempting a top rope splash which lands on knees and balls. Now the crowd is cheering him when he’s winning, Norio cups his hand to his ear for more before giving the crowd the good ol’ UP YOURS. La Mahistral gets kicked out of (not possible) as does Norio’s trademark running flying clothesline. Norio kicks Ultimo low again but another clothesline gets two and Norio’s disbelief is enough to help Ultimo land a Superplex followed by the Bridging German Suplex at 10:08.

This was a perfectly decent Dragon match with Norio getting a chance to show off his personality and looked like he could do more with more matches and time…so naturally he’d never return to WAR or wrestle Ultimo again.

Violence Stage I

Masashi Aoyagi vs. Takashi Ishikawa

Oh this has the opportunity to rule, Karate guy vs. the dude who the Yakuza send when someone annoys them. Aoyagi attacks Ishikawa as he enters the ring and sends the gammon outside, with the ref having to please Aoyagi to let him in to start the match. Aoyagi obliges then pounds away like John Henry until Ishikawa manages to grab a hold to stop the pain. Then Aoyagi grabs the ropes and kicks Tenryu’s fat old son out the ring again before following and kicking him even more. Aoyagi only does strikes like Balrog in Street Fighter Alpha 3 but they’re so convincing and over (and stiff) that it’s very effective. Ishikawa grabs a spinning kick and converts it into a slam, allowing him to land a Uranage. Aoyagi’s valet distracts the ref, allowing Ishikawa to get even more kicks. However, a sneak attack is avoided and hits Aoyagi allowing another Uranage (which doesn’t look like much considering he’s wearing a gi) to end it at 5:26 Eh, not the barnburner I was expecting but still good enough. Aoyagi’s evil black karate gi is enough for a recommendation.

Violence Stage II

Anti-Players Association (Kengo Kimura, Shiro Koshinaka & The Great Kabuki) vs. Raging Staff (Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto) & Yoshiro Ito

There’s enough dead weight here to crash land a plane. Machine blocks Koshinaka’s arse the first time but he spams it more than the fucking advert for ITR’s interview with Edge on this Blog, so he lands it again seconds later. Goto and Ito body the baddies, with Ito winning a test of strength against Kimura. Bloody hell that’s generous, I thought the NJPW legends were supposed to no-sell everything and stiff everyone. Oh wait here’s Kabuki to do just that with Ito. Machine armbars Kabuki so they can reminisce about wrestling Marcus Aurelius back in the day until Koshinaka tags in to also slow things down. Yeah cheers mate. More stomping and choking follows until Ito tags in and starts slamming. Then everyone tags in for more holds. You don’t see many multi-men tag matches where the participants are eager to tag in for chinlocks. Reason being is that you read blogs like this and go “ah I’ll skip this one.” Kimura/Koshinaka land the old AWA Special (god knows what they call it) on Ito. Machine gets misted by Kabuki, who simply tags out to someone else. That someone else is Goto who gets taken out instantly, so he tags out to Ito who takes a Kimura Flying kick to end it at 11:33 I’d rather watch plastic decompose than watch this again.

Hiroshi Hase vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki

Fuyuki has what sounds suspiciously like crowd support for this interpromotional fight. That can’t be right??? Fuyuki demonstrates he can hang with Hase on the mat, even tugging Hase’s hair. Hase responds by locking in a completely offensive leg lock with just his legs, allowing Hase to applaud himself.

Well deserved! Fuyuki escapes and works over Hase as the crowd boo him. Mate, if I was Tenryu I’d boo Fuyuki against Hase too. Fuyuki is at least leaning into it by choking Hase and taking his time to release on rope breaks. Hase lands hard shots but Fuyuki glares and German Suplexes Hase to soak up the boos like a bag of Bounty. Fuyuki Stretch Plumbs Hase and releases it so he can continue to get booed. Fuyuki lets the crowd cheer for Hase to recover and get up before he casually ducks a lariat and knocks him down again. Miserable Fuyuki is best Fuyuki. Hase finally halts Fuyuki coming off the top rope and lands a Flying Clothesline for two, before removing a few inches from his height with a Side Suplex. Fuyuki takes Hase’s shots to the chest and demands more, before lariating and Powerbombing Hase for two. Crowd applaud the action but not Fuyuki because he stinks. Fuyuki takes Hase down with a rough chinlock, managing to get a lot out of such a simple move. It’s almost frustrating seeing Fuyuki be so damn good here and then half-arse it elsewhere. Hase tries to stop Fuyuki coming off the top, but he gets stuck on the second rope and Fuyuki hits a crazy variant of his Butt Drop, squashing Hase who is already half-way up the ropes. And Hase kicks out! Hase tries for quick pins while he recovers, before sending Fuyuki into the ropes to set up a massive Uranage, with Hase delivering a second to be sure…with Fuyuki kicking out. Crowd are losing it now. Hase and Fuyuki grapple but Hase halts Fuyuki before he can do anything, setting up the Northern Lights Suplex to end it at 17:58.

What a barnburner! You can tell Tenryu’s influence has been rubbing off on Fuyuki as he is getting better and better at knowing when to time his comebacks and cut-offs. This coupled with Hase’s crazy athleticism and overall awesomeness made for a hell of a match.

Power Of One

John Tenta & King Haku vs. The Barbarian & Tony Halme

“Power Of One” and it’s a tag match. Yeah OK. This is Ludvig Borga’s last match in Japan before joining WWF. I’m sure WAR sent him to Vince as revenge for all those times they sent over Double Trouble and Chris Walker.

We’re JIP to Ludvig taking a Spike Piledriver on the outside and deciding to blade his forehead. I’ll ignore the biology behind that as Ludvig spurts a gusher, with Haku able to bite his forehead and spray it like HHH. Jesus. Tenta clubs away and spreads the crimson mask over Halme’s shoulder because it’s pouring out so viciously. Halmes attempts to counter a Haku lariat with one of his own but Haku just ignores it in another bastard moment for the Walking Riot. Barbarian tags in and sticks his future tag partner with a Piledriver before we cut ahead to Tenta delivering a belly-to-belly. Barb recovers to tag in Halme and the crowd are very respectful because he’s bleeding so much. Halme connects with a shoulder tackle but he’s lacking health points so Haku easily takes over on offence. Tenta squishes Halme, squeezing the red stuff out of him like a tube of toothpaste. Barb saves him again and delivers a crunchy powerslam until Tenta backdrops him to shut him up. Barb resists with lariats until Tenta firmly and politely says “no” with a massive dropkick before landing the Wrestlefest Finisher at 15:20.

If you want to see manly men doing manly things, you can do a lot worse than this. I don’t know if Halme bled so much because he knew he didn’t want to take any major bumps to mess up his WWF deal or because he felt like it.

Either way, cheers you dumb dead fucking idiot.

Call Up Storm

Masahiro Chono vs. Koki Kitahara

This is a bit one-sided isn’t it? Crowd doesn’t seem to think so and sound excited as Kitahara kicks Chono to the outside. Chono beats him in a test of strength, so Kitahara turns it into a Northern Lights. Hey, you can do that in WCW/nWo Revenge!

Chono holds on and tries for a STF but Kitahara escapes via hammerlock and both men attempt to hand-cuff one another by holding on and turning it into something else. It makes for a nicer pace but also feels like Chono is clock-watching. Kitahara keeps Chono occupied with holds before some hard kicks wake him up, only for Chono to remain defensive and keep taking more shots. Yeah he’s clock-watching. Chono lands the Organised Crime Kick and a shoulder tackle off the top before telling the crowd off for being so quiet. Well wake up then. Another Organised Crime Kick sets up the STF, which Kitahara escapes somehow to land an enziguri and a follow-up Superplex. Not a lot of love for Kitahara though, people aren’t even willing to boo him. German Suplex gets two but Chono is slightly vexed now and tries for a Powerbomb, which gets countered into a Frankensteiner, which gets countered into a Sunset Flip, which sets up a Spinning Wheel Kick, which sets up a miss. These are just moves. Kitahara attempts a Abdominal Stretch Pin but Chono kicks out and does the same to win at 13:31. Huh. Kitahara looks promising in the undercard and then out of his depth in a big match. Doesn’t help that Masa gave him Chonothing. The first half with the hold-trades was nice but it didn’t lead to anything and the second half was just whatever moves for no rhyme nor reason.

Exotic Spectacle

Great Muta vs. Ashura Hara

90s Muta could often be the definition of “and then the ball rang” if he wasn’t in a big match. Crowd goes nuts for the mist-spraying entrance and then stops when both men tussle over an armbar for a few minutes. They stay silent as Hara headbutts and lariats Muta around the place and barely pop when Muta ducks a charge, sending Hara arse-over-tit to the outside with the camera watching Hara blade after a ring bell to the head. Then follows several minutes of Muta doing his best Abdullah impression as he slowly wanders around attacking Hara’s barely-moving forehead. Hara misses another lariat and sends himself outside again which Muta follows up with a crazy bulldog facebuster on the concrete. OK that was appreciated. But then it’s followed by absolutely nothing until Muta hears the crowd yelling “Come on you schnorrers, do something!” and tries for the moonsault only to land on feet. His feet, not Hara’s. That would have been something. Hara connects with some lariats with the crowd murmuring to one another. Hara tries some headbutts but can’t get the Brainbuster as he gets sent outside AGAIN, presumably trying to hide from his complete lack of chemistry. Muta has enough and smashes a bottle over Hara, enabling him to land the Moonsault at 11:59 with Hara kicking out at 3.1 and Muta leaving the ring immediately with no celebration.

Good God what a clash of milds. Muta acted like all this was beneath him and Hara did his best to prove him correct. Let’s move on.

Renaissance in BUDOKAN

Shinya Hashimoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu

HERE WE FUCKING GO. Hashimoto is months away from ascending to the throne and he’s also the only non-Chosu & Fujinami guy to beat Tenryu during the WAR/NJPW feud, so even though the up-and-comer never beats the legend in the first match…it certainly feels like it could happen due to how successfully they’ve built Hashimoto up. So like Keanu Reeves in The Matrix, let’s see if he makes the jump first time.

Crowd are pumped up from the word go as Tenryu shows how hesitant he is to get fully stuck in, knowing how dangerous Hashimoto is. Both men wrangle one another in the corner and the camera wonderfully catches Hashimoto glaring at Tenryu like a hungry shark. Hash unleashes the knees to send Tenryu outside, with Tenryu unwilling to lock up causing Hash to yell at him. Tenryu lands chops to send Hashimoto down and they square off again, with Hash showing he’s not cautious like Tenryu and fires away on him with his own chops. Tenryu lands the Blind Elbow for two before knocking Hash down with a chop and trying a pin. After one chop? Hash is pissed now and smashes Tenryu daft with leg kicks and attempts to pop his foot off his ankle. Tenryu can’t do a damn thing except squeal as Hash unleashes more ankle and leg submissions. Hash only lets go when he realises Tenryu isn’t tapping out and goes to work kicking him again until Tenryu unleashes his sumo strikes to send Hash into the corner, enough to bust Hash’s nose open but not enough to capitalise as Tenryu’s too hurt. So Hash side-swipes him so he can go back to the ankle, with Tenryu grabbing a hold too to stop more damage. Sumo strikes start again with Hash needing to cut him off with a DDT. It only gets two, with a Powerbomb getting the same as does a German Suplex as Hash looks more and more like a killer. Spinning Wheel Kick, DDT and a sleeper follow as the crowd is half-bagging for Tenryu to recover and the the half is wanting MORE KILLINGS. Tenryu half-blocks Hash’s DDT as he’s so hurt his counters aren’t connecting. Tenryu manages an Enziguri to set up his own Powerbomb and a kick out as the crowd are all going wild now. Tenryu looks in pain and tired as he picks up Hash…who jumps and connects with an Enziguri for two. Crowd was ready for that to be it. Tenryu barely glances an Enziguri on Hash so he decides to kick him in the face instead for another two. Tenryu can’t get the Powerbomb, even with his valets going crazy at ringside so he decides to chop Hash instead, with Hash coming back with his own kick which causes Tenryu to land a Kappo Kick, with a final Powerbomb ending it at 18:23.

What a blast. Tenryu’s best strength during the SWS/WAR years was his ability to time his comebacks and knowing exactly when to pull the trigger on a sneaky enziguri, and here he played the crowd like a conductor. Hashimoto may have lost but looked so close to winning that it barely mattered and made you think it’s only a matter of time before he DOES beat Tenryu. This was like Brock vs. Rock at Summerslam if Rock win (but people were OK with it).

Meltz says:

A largely quiet week topped by the 6/15 and 6/17 shows at Budokan Hall co-promoted by WAR and New Japan. Both shows drew in the 14,000 range. The gimmick was the two promotions had a side bet in that in every interpromotional match on both shows, the winning promotion picked up $9,000 and the main event on 6/17 with Genichiro Tenryu vs. Shinya Hashimoto saw each promotion put up $18,000. New Japan won eight of the 14 matches, however since WAR won the Tenryu-Hashimoto, when the dust cleared, New Japan finished up by $9,000.

Overall: A very mixed undercard summed up WAR’s biggest issue: The good stuff is great and the bad stuff is crap. I don’t know if the NJPW guys were sick of coming to WAR but the effort we’d seen previously wasn’t here tonight for many of them. Maybe Meltzer was right and the feud has peaked, but at least the peak was Hashimoto vs. Tenryu. Also check out Hase vs. Fuyuki as well and treat the rest like it’s a filler arc.

I’ve been Maffew and I thought Hash might win even though I knew he wasn’t