WAR Wrestle And Romance – Revolution In Ryogoku Kokugikan 12/15/93
By Maffew Gregg on 26 November 2023
Wrestle And Romance
Tokyo, Japan
Ryogoku Kokugikan
Attendance: 11,000
You know last time when I said “WAR needs some direction in this NJPW feud as it’s burning out”? Well after NJPW’s 11/04 card, Antonio Inoki announced he’s taking on Genichiro Tenryu in their first ever singles match at the Jan 4th Show. Oh. OH. Yeah that’ll do nicely, thanks.
Koji Kitao was married on 11/7 and Genichiro Tenryu was at his wedding, talking with the press about wanting a singles match against Kitao. Well, it’s probably going to be less stressful than dealing with Inoki.
Anyway WAR’s last release of 1993 is Tenryu’s 30th Anniversary Show (counting from the start of his pre-wrestling sumo career).
UWA Middleweight Title Match
Ultimo Dragon vs. Atlantis
Atlantis wrestled for non-recorded SWS shows in Feb 1991. Him and Ultimo have clashed in CMLL but haven’t wrestled in Japan. UNTIL NOW.
Dragon blasts the wet one with his spin kicks and handspring, with Atlantis immediately following with a Spinning Body Attack off the top as we’re going hard and fast. Dragon tries to avoid a dive through the ropes but Atlantis doesn’t care and rolling swantons off the apron. Atlantis’ armbar gets countered with a headscissors, which annoys Atlantis’ so much that he tries to knock Dragon on his arse but he lands on his feet every time. Atlantis does the same and these fuckers haven’t stopped moving since the bell, with a series of armdrags finally letting these guys have an Indie Stand Off and we clip ahead before they have a heart attack and die.
Atlantis gets worked over but Dragon can’t land the dive to the outside as Atlantis knows he’s going for the fake-out and is on the apron as Dragon’s doing it. He’s a real Lucha, he’s not falling for that. Atlantis lands not only a top rope crossbody to the outside, but immediately follows THAT with a rolling swanton off the apron to a downed Ultimo. Did Claudio’s Dad spend time in Mexico? Atlantis spams the crossbodies to set up the contractually mandated Mexican Surfboard to then run right into a Frankensteiner for two. Dragon’s German Suplex gets two as does a follow up in-ring Asai Moonsault. Dragon over-exerts on the Bridging German Suplex and manages his own kick out, so Atlantis tries too many Frankensteiners with Dragon turning one into a bridging pin for two. They scuffle and finally Dragon locks in La Magistral for the pin at 15:54 and…an upset crowd as Atlantis kicks out at 3.
Crowd didn’t like that and it doesn’t help that that move doesn’t have the same value as it does in Mexico so we cut quickly away to escape the booing but FUCK THAT CROWD, this match ruled with Atlantis doing his best to blow away Dragon and failing.
Earthquake John Tenta vs. Warlord
Warlord returns to Japan despite being rubbish because just LOOK AT THE BASTARD. He had a very relaxed schedule post-WWF and the Japan tours are one of the few times he had to pick up something that wasn’t a syringe.
Both men attempt to bounce the other with Warlord casually bodyslamming Tenta to the crowd’s amazement. Tenta is mad and recovers with a giant-arse dropkick. After squishing Warlord under his foot, Tenta keeps it at a pace he likes before Warlord manages a suplex before another bodyslam. Wow, Tenta is being very generous here. Tenta catches Warlord on a dive and bonks him into the ring post. Earthquake Butt Stomp connects and…Warlord kicks out? Oh shit, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone kick out of that. Crowd can’t believe it either. Tenta bearhugs Warlord but he gets his breath back and back suplexes Tenta. Warlord charges up another Powerslam as the crowd are losing their minds, but Tenta’s weight crushes him…for two. Tenta elbow drops and leg drops Warlord and that still doesn’t manage it and I’m wondering where this match came from. A flying clothesline finally puts Warlord away at 9:19 but that has to be Warlord’s best ever singles match. It’s not exactly a high bar but credit where it’s due, he was working hard with a willing opponent here and crowd loved the radioactive steroid.
Ashura Hara & Ishinriki vs. King Haku & Masao Orihara
Ishinriki makes his WAR debut! Abandoning NOW like Ricky Morton running away from child support. Hara’s body is falling apart so naturally WAR has stuck him in with the guy who has hurt him the most. Hara immediately goes for lariats which has somehow become 50% of his offence. Haku and Hara trade headbutts and chops for old time’s sake.
Then the youngsters tag in and the crowd are excited for this, with both lads instantly trying to out-dick one another from the get-go. Ishinriki lands a perfect armdrag from the top-rope and the crowd doesn’t react as much as Orihara’s hair-pull. Release German Suplex sets up Ishinriki’s sumo charge which gets zero reaction as does a leaping Tombstone. Huh? Orihara hears this and pretends they didn’t happen and lands a jumping piledriver, which Ishinriki decides to no-sell. Ishinriki lands a Butterfly Suplex as this crowd is weird. Sometimes the Japanese crowds pop for the existence of someone but then stay silent for their wrestling. A top rope armdrag sets up a top rope leg drop but Haku saves the day. Hara suplexes Orihara and loses him in the process, turning it into a kinda-DDT because Hara can’t even fucking suplex anymore. Ishinriki makes the mistake of trying to the sumo slaps on Haku who yells at them, with a dropkick directly to the face getting absorbed and IGNORED by the King and the crowd love that. A spinning wheel kick gets caught and dumped, with a follow up savate kick discombobulating Ishinriki to tag in Hara in the wrong side of the ring, with everyone just allowing it. Hara gets a kick for breaking the rules of wrestling before falling out the ring. Ishinriki can’t knock Haku off his feet with a dive, so Hara dives on top of him, with Orihara then jumping on top of HIM. Hara throws and takes more lariats (zzz) with Ishinriki interfering to knock Haku off the top rope, with lariat #554 ending it on a flat note at 17:54.
Interesting mix of styles with a weird crowd that had some nice moments but never really flowed well. Haku ruled but Hara continues to age like milk in the sun. Orihara and Ishinriki build the tension by eyeing one another up after the bell, which (checks Google) we wouldn’t get. Oh.
Great Kabuki vs. Black Cat
We’re JIP to Kabuki misting Cat, who runs out the ring to wash it out with water…and to blow water mist into Kabuki’s eyes. Ha! Kabuki sells it and then the editor realises it’s better to just skip to the end, which involves Kabuki grabbing the ropes on a Sunset Flip to win via cheating and act like nothing happened. There’d be peace in the Middle East if every Kabuki match was only thirty seconds.
Hiroshi Hase vs. Koki Kitahara
Let’s see if Hase can do for Koki what he did for Fuyuki. Koki lands a jumping Frankensteiner and nearly ends the match in seconds and continues to stay on the attack with Hase wearing the spaghetti trousers early on. Hase stops the onslaught with small packages but it can’t stop Koki from Powerbombing Hase on the outside. Crowd are cheering for Hase as he is absorbing move after move from Koki who has never longed stronger against a big name. WAR Special is escaped out of so Koki wraps himself around Hase’s leg in a hold I can’t begin to type out. Hase can’t even stand up before Koki dropkicks him low and applies another leglock in the middle of the ring. Hase escapes out of that and then gets stuck with a Dragon Suplex for two with the crowd applauding and cheering his effort like the French fops from Amadeus. Hase clinches and goes for a uranage but Koki prevents it so he gets stuck with a Northern Lights instead for the…win after Hase’s first offensive move at 20:24! Bloody hell.
I think this match summed up why Koki never went further in his career: In a match where he got 99% of the offence, no-one in the crowd believed he was winning. Nothing he did changed their mind with his offence lacking intensity and by walking around with that same dull expression on his face, no-one bought him as anything other than Tenryu’s mate. Shame really.
Mil Mascaras vs. El Gran Markus jr.
Yeah I’m over seeing Mil do his same three spots every show. Crowd absolutely adore him though. Markus’ strikes are some of the gentlest I’ve ever seen, he makes Giant Baba look like Low Ki. He’s still going to this day though so he’s a REAL ARSE LUCHADORE. Mil sends him outside with the wide one taking a mean bump so Mil can SKY HIGH AGAIN off the top rope to the outside. Markus rotates the slowest swanton I’ve ever seen and then Mil lands the SKY HIGH AGAIN AGAIN crossbody to end this heavily clipped contest at 8:08.
Elsewhere, PWFG held a show a week before that featured not only the pro wrestling debut of Shoichi Funaki, but also featured the insane sight of Glenn Jacobs taking on fucking Fujiwara in the main event.
Oh and the legendary Vader vs. Takada battle took place in front of 46,187 screaming fans two weeks before this show and boy oh boy do you need to watch that match ASAP. UWF-i and PWFG are doing pretty well right now, let’s hope it lasts.
Super Strong Machine & Hiromichi Fuyuki vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Tatsutoshi Goto
Fuyuki has really sunk into his inner dickhead as he cheers his own announcement while standing in Goto’s face. Koshinaka and Fuyuki avoid one another’s offence to start before Fuyuki simply slaps his legendary opponent right in the fucking face. And then it’s time for fun to stop as the other lads tag in as we get the two henchest, slowest, dullest lads in the company going at it. SWS NEVER DIE. Anyway here’s Goto’s amazing theme to remind you how badly they wasted this brutal song on someone so boring:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6eIJM-C-V4&pp=ygUVdGF0c3V0b3NoaSBnb3RvIHRoZW1l
Crowd shut down but start back up when Fuyuki tags in to trade stiff shots with Koshinaka and then we Goto The Concession Stand for a bit. The NJPW Noobs backdrop both big lads and Koshinaka is really motivated here and tries to JFK Fuyuki with a Butt Butt off the top rope. Fuyuki kicks out so Koshinaka spams the arse but Fuyuki still isn’t buying it, tagging in Machine for some crappy lariats. Fuyuki’s Yelling Lariat gets them back into it but can’t end the match. This drags on for a bit as crowd only cares about Fuyuki vs. Koshinaka, so naturally the finish is Machine landing the Devil Windmill Suplex for the pin at 11:36. Felt a hell of a lot longer.
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami
Tenryu lost to Fujinami the month previously as part of NJPW’s record-breaking run Sumo Hall run, so naturally with Inoki in Tenryu’s horizon this plot line needs resolving.
Tenryu tries for a lariat before the bell even rings and he misses, generating mock applause from The Fuj. A lengthy side headlock kills some time as I wonder how many singles matches Tenryu lost in 1993. Turns out it was only this guy and Choshu, and both losses he avenged. Tenryu lariats Fuj and Fuj responds by pausing and then going nuts on Tenryu before taking him down with a side headlock again. This match may not have tension but it has a ton of heat with the crowd exploding over Fuj’s brutal slaps and Tenryu’s follow up lariat. Tenryu chops in the corner but Fuj takes an Enziguri and then simply rolls outside because Fujinami can do what he likes around a youngster like Tenryu. So Tenryu kicks him right in the bastard face when he gets back in, leading to Fuj locking in a Figure Four and staring him down. Tenryu tries to escape by punching Fuj’s foot (his fooj) but the Inoki Beater refuses to release. Fuj lets go to side suplex Tenryu, with Tenryu taking it and then returning to kicking Fuj in his face (his faje). Fujinami lets loose a few lightning chops and leg kicks as these two are attempting to remove one another’s chrome. Fuj lands a kick off the top rope and tries an Abominable Stretch Pin but ends up in the ropes. Fujinami makes the mistake of complaining to the ref so Tenryu takes this opportunity to hoof him in the head and get a two count after a Blind Elbow. Fuj counters a Rolling Kick into the Sharpshooter with the crowd really worried Tenryu may lose here before his biggest match ever, like Austin at No Way Out 2001. Fuj attempts a sleeper instead, with Tenryu wanting none of that and runs him into the turnbuckle instead. Tenryu can’t get a powerbomb and Fuj can’t get a counter so both men do exactly the same until Tenryu fixes the problem with a DDT and then drops poor Fuj right on his fucking head to end it at 14:14.
This was a lot of fun with Fujinami knowing the result was obvious but making Mr. Wrestling fight for it anyway. Unlike other battles Tenryu has had (and will have), this one felt like Tenryu surviving rather than overcoming which was a nice contrast to some of his other battles this year. Fujinami was so much more dynamic and brutal here than usual that I was shocked it took only one brutal arse head-drop powerbomb to end it. Lovely stuff!
Overall: Last month was about feeling worried things were feeling tired but this month was about getting hyped for the Inoki clash, the all important final battle for The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the WAR. This tape was a lovely slice of WAR vs. NJPW pie and would also turn out to be the penultimate one, with the final bite coming next month. How many feuds last over a year and stay great?
