WAR Wrestle And Romance – Winning War In Bay Area 09/12/93
By Maffew Gregg on 12 November 2023
Wrestle And Romance 
Chiba, Japan
Makuhari Messe Event Hall
Attendance: 7,200
The WAR/NJPW feud may be cooling off but that didn’t stop NJPW from selling out Korakuen Hall with a show consisting of simply Skinhead guys vs. WAR guys (that wasn’t filmed but sounded nice).
Also YET ANOTHER SWS splinter group is getting started up with the SPWF starting soon, notably including Yoshiaki Yatsu & Shinichi Nakano who both buggered off after the WAR/NOW split. They’re going to be emphasising “amateur style” in an attempt to distance themselves from the dozens of other companies failing to make a profit in the same area.
Also: Weekly Pro Wrestling had its fan-voted Mid-1993 Awards and the good news is that Tenryu edged out Misawa for Wrestler Of The Year, and Men’s singles match of the year went to Tenryu vs. Hashimoto from 6/17 at Budokan Hall, barely beating out Gordy vs. Kobashi on 5/21.
Anyway, let’s pay $185 for ringside seats for the first ever Chono vs. Tenryu singles match!
Masao Orihara vs. Shinjiro Otani
After Orihara pinned Ultimo Dragon on 9/5 in Osaka, he grabbed the house mic and issued a challenge to Misawa (!) and Kawada (!!) for singles matches, and Tenryu said he’d do his best to put those matches together. Well, WAR is currently working with NJPW and AJPW has zero history with working with other groups, so if this was a feeler to set up things post-NJPW then it didn’t work.
Speaking of not working: Otani gives the bald goon some stunning flying kicks and release German Suplexes to start this thing off fast and hot. Otani ignores Orihara’s dropkick and lands a Tope to the outside to annoy him into slapping back so he can land a senton. Orihara tries some more kick so Otani is like “oh it’s a fight you want?” and spin kicks his bonce to the mat before grinning. Orihara defiantly dropkicks Otani to the outside so he can land THE MELTZER AWARD FOR MOVE MOST LIKE THE ORIHARA MOONSAULT 1991 which I’m not going to GIF as he lands on the bad ankle Otani’s been working on. He even tries to wipe his foot on Otani’s face, but it’s the bad one so he slips and Otani gives him no respect with his shots to the face in response. Orihara lands a piledriver that gets zero response from the crowd (eep) with Otani recovering before him and nailing a Tombstone. Orihara ignores THAT so he can stick a Fall-Forward Piledriver, miss a tope rope moonsault and then got rolled up…for two as Orihara was probably hoping for the “go on, get him!” crowd love by now. It eventually arrives after Otani sticks him with a Dragon Suplex and Orihara kicks out, followed by Orihara kicking out of a German Suplex immediately afterwards. Both men go for dropkicks at the same time and then Orihara lands a Bridging German Suplex to…win at 13:16 in a mild shock!
Otani was glorious here, just a complete vulture and acting as a perfect foil for Orihara’s cocky attitude. Finish was only decent compared to the rest of the match and it would have helped if the crowd gave two shits about Orihara, but otherwise good stuff here.
Koki Kitahara vs. Richard Byrne
Who the hell’s Richard Byrne? Well according to his obituary he’s a legit karate and MMA guy who wrestled Fujinami one time. He instantly removes the gloves to throw spinning backfists so Kitahara takes him to the mat to prevent any of that kind of malarkey. Byrne kicks Koki in the face a bit and so far this is an OK pretend MMA match until Koki lands a backdrop suplex to ruin the illusion instantly.
That ends the second round as apparently the first was too bad to air and we’re clipped directly into the third, starting as Koki inexplicably kicks Byrne out the ring who does a fucking 180 in the process and the crowd can’t even with that. However they return when Byrne starts chopping and kicking Koki very hard. Byrne makes sure to attack Koki after the bell and gets CHEERED for it, oh no. This is turning into Frank Trigg vs. AJ Styles.
Fourth round starts with both men trading shots until Koki…lands a suplex. Like a normal standing suplex. C’mon man. Koki sends Byrne outside again and gets counted out VERY quickly to end this in a very unpopular way.
Well this failed as a fake MMA match, it failed as a wrestling match and it failed to get Koki over so well done. Byrne never returned to WAR.
Mil Mascaras & Ultimo Dragon vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai
Much love from the crowd for Mil and his amazing theme song, easily the most over thing in the match. Samurai and Ultimo start off with their typically smooth sequence with the crowd not caring a jot. Samurai is up there with Jimmy Del Ray for most skill/worst body. Take off his mask and you’ve got a first year PWG guy. Mil tags in to a big pop to bust out his test of strength sequence he always does before Liger tags in and the crowd is wringing their hands with glee. Mil stretches Liger in the same way a Grandad plays with a new-born, which given his age wasn’t far from the truth.
Liger applies an ankle lock with Mil escaping with cradles, again appropriate for the age difference. Liger is overselling everything to make Mil’s work work because how else is this going to work? Liger attempts to escape Mil’s armbar with a DDT but Mil simply holds on and flips him over for more of it in a nice little move you don’t see much of. Dragon and Samurai take it easy with a hand sell sequence because how likely is it Dragon would injure that part of his body? Cough. Liger fails at backdropping Dragon a few times so deals with the issue by Coppa Kicking Dragon down. Dragon fakes out Liger twice before landing the Asai Moonsault to Liger and half a guardrail.
Mil headlocks Samurai with Liger trying to help, ending up headlocking Liger who charges in so Mil can do his double Mexican Armdrag and headlock/headscissor takedown combo. Oh was he the guy who innovated that? Crowd’s reaction would say “si”. A Flying Cross Chop on Samurai also gets a booming reaction from people who are only here for the hits. Some basic leg locks get applied and then Mil lands the Diving Crossbody off the top, with Liger having to save Samurai. That’s enough of that so here’s Dragon to get worked over. Dragon and Samurai bust out their usual cool moves but the crowd doesn’t care. The in-ring Asai Moonsault sets up a German Suplex (No Bridge) and a tag to Mil (No Job) who Powerbombs Samurai for three but the ref says “No Count” and it’s deemed a kick-out. Well that sucked. Mil’s a pro though and lands a Backdrop Suplex to win instead at 14:54.
This was all about watching Mil interacting with the newer stars and this was the only time he’d face Liger and do anything with Samurai. Crowd were really into Mil sucking in his chest and doing his old moves which was fine if you wanted to see a legend do legendary things but if you were expecting some amazing moments or chemistry between the current guys then this was a let-down.
Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Hiroshi Hase
These two had a blinder at the Anniversary Show so let’s see how the rematch plays out.
We’re JIP (aw c’mon) to Fuyuki dogging Hase on the mat as he’s coming into the match with a bandaged head and starts bleeding as a result. Hase bleeding? Say it isn’t so. Hase chops away but Fuyuki casually applies a Stretch Plumb as the crowd boos Fuyuki again. Hase’s chops have zero effect on Fuyuki who continues to have his way with him, including biting his forehead. Camera focuses on the red blood splatting over both men’s yellow gear and it makes for a lovely image. Like a muscled hot dog. Fuyuki lands a Fall Forward Piledriver for two as the crowd are just happy Hase is alive so we get SEXY FUYUKI to annoy them even more.
Crossbody is enough for a two count and to cause Hase to get really mad and start headbutting Fuyuki and OH MY GOD Hase Giant Swings Fuyuki for a good ten seconds, and by the time it’s finished Fuyuki is covered in Hase’s blood that was flinging off his head. OK I’ve never seen that before and this match is now getting instantly recommended. And even better, because Hase looks like Nicholas Cage in Mandy, Fuyuki is able to land a Charging Lariat for two. A second also gets two as the crowd can’t believe Hase is still going with all that claret on him. Fuyuki backdrops out of a piledriver but can’t sustain the offence so Fuyuki locks in a Sharpshooter and a red-faced Hase bravely refuses to tap out years before Wrestlemania 13. Fuyuki’s timing is improving with every show as he lets Hase get a fluke roll-up before letting him try a backdrop and *then* countering to get a wonderful “AHHH C’MON SCREW YOU” reaction. Fuyuki lands the Butt Drop and grins to the crowd. Fuyuki hams it up so much that Hase is just about able to Superplex him for two. Hase can’t get the Uranage so shoves him away, which gives both of them the space to land the lariat at the same time to stun both men, so Fuyuki charges and runs into a brutal Uranage onto his big head for the dramatic pin at 18:09.
A completely different match from their previous blinder as instead of Fuyuki going shot-for-shot in a battle of gladiators, this was Fuyuki getting the chance to emphasise his heel-ness and make the beloved Hase fight from below. I’ve been watching Fuyuki since the start of SWS and the crowd has never *really* warmed up to him, so the idea of him manhandling a guy like Hase is more than enough ammo for the crowd to heckle him. This was fantastic and these two matches with Hase will hopefully be enough to change the man’s career for the better.
Ashura Hara vs. Osamu Kido
It’s not just me seeing modern day Vince McMahon in Hara is it? Kido got a brief push in the WAR feud when he was pushed as the submission expert who could take out Tenryu. He didn’t.
We’re clipped ahead to Kido stretching every one of Hara’s limbs. Anything that’s dangling is getting played with. Hara keeps it in second gear with a lariat and Kido keeps on applying Fujiwara armbars. Hara hits some more lariats. Kido gets bored of this and tries some roll-ups so Hara hits some more lariats to end it with no build at 12:19 to a “eh” reaction from the crowd and myself.
If this match was any more pedestrian, you’d get 10 points for hitting it in GTA.
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Masahiro Chono
Here we go, their first ever singles match. Chono’s pop is quieter than Mil Mascaras’ which I’m struggling to comprehend. Maybe because Tenryu followed up his victory over Hashimoto in WAR by beating Hashimoto in NJPW, and he was given four months of build as the potential Tenryu-killer. What’s Chono got going for him? He can have Tenryu killed by the yakuza tattooed friends?
Chono gets a few flurries to knock Tenryu down resulting in both men going shot for shot and slam for slam until we get the DRAMATIC STAREDOWN before that was overplayed. Enziguri sets up a corner lariat and a non-corner lariat as he’s just throwing everything at Chono minutes into the match. Blind Elbow can’t end it and neither can two Dirty Powerbombs. Sadly the crowd isn’t reacting. Chono locks in the STF and stomps Tenryu to bust him open. Tenryu’s fuming and demands Chono kick him harder. So he does! Crowd is flaccid during all of this but thankfully make some noise as Tenryu falls outside. Recovering enough to suplex Chono out the ring, Tenryu dives off the apron and lands right into a Chono chairshot. Chono locks in the STF but Tenryu gets the ropes so Chono does it again and I dunno why this crowd is absolutely silent during this. You can easily picture these moments getting massive pops during a NJPW show. Chono jumps off the top rope into a Tenryu punch, but Chono blocks an Enziguri and locks in the STF in a nice moment. Tenryu however escapes immediately and lands a million lariats before dropping Chono with a Dirty Powerbomb for two. Two million more lariats and another Dirty Powerbomb gets another two and thankfully the crowd have finally woken up. A third Dirty Powerbomb ends it at and I like to think Tenryu waited until the crowd finally woke up before ending it just to spite the bored bastards.
Match was only decent. Nothing wrong with a decent match of course but you look at the names involved and expect a lot more, but you also expect a crowd to give a damn about a supposed match like this so I guess we’re all out of luck.
So Tenryu’s beaten Hashimoto and Chono which leaves…oh, Hase apparently who attacks Tenryu post-match to set up (looks ahead) nothing in WAR but Tenryu would travel to NJPW to put him over. I’m kidding of course, as if anyone could beat Tenryu and become a NJPW headliner instantly.
Overall: I think the winners of this show were WAR’s war-lets given the staggering cost of ringside tickets. Fuyuki vs. Hase II is a must-see and the rest ain’t. For the first time, the NJPW/WAR feud feels a bit average, I mean if you wanted to watch some fine action in front of a dead crowd you could just go to Philly.
