(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Nobuhiko Takada vs. Shinya Hashimoto – NJPW Battle Formation In Tokyo Dome

This is one of the most historically significant matches of the past three decades that you probably haven’t heard of. This match headlined the biggest wrestling show up to that point that didn’t involve Pay-Per-View. With this contest NJPW raked in the equivalent of about $US 6 million from live gates alone. Not only was it a huge lucrative success but it set in motion a chain of events that would alter the course of wrestling history. This match concluded what is quite possibly the most successful outside invaders angle ever, to the point that Eric Bischoff couldn’t help but copy it and repurpose it for his own reasons and create the Outsiders and then the New World Order. Without this match odds are the NWO wouldn’t have existed. No NWO means no 83 week win streak for WCW. No win streak means no Attitude Era. No Attitude Era means no Steve Austin versus Vince McMahon. And no Austin versus McMahon means no second golden age for WWF/E, which means no chance for the company to go public and eventually become the multi-billion-dollar entity it is today.

The Story

New Japan under Inoki promoted itself as the “King of Sports” and Inoki always believed that his wrestlers were the greatest and toughest combat sports practitioners in the world. As part of this shift towards realistic, martial arts-driven pro-wrestling, Inoki kept bringing in people from shoot wrestling and other “legit” backgrounds to compete against him or his wrestlers. Come 1995 NJPW had formed a working relationship with the UWFi, a famous shootstyle promotion built around former NJPW trainee Nobuhiko Takada. Takada’s UWFi did a better job of promoting a shoot/sports/combat centric style of wrestling than Inoki’s New Japan, which made it counter Inoki’s public claims of being the best in the combat sports space. But instead of crushing UWFi underfoot immediately, Inoki saw dollar signs in a working relationship with this company. So he worked with them and launched an interpromotional feud in 1995 that saw UWFi “invade” New Japan and its top star Takada take the IWGP Heavyweight Championship At Wrestling World 1996, the biggest NJPW show of the year.

Takada winning New Japan’s top prize as an outsider sent shockwaves throughout the company and gave more credibility to both Takada and the company he represented. With Muto having lost the title in January, there was only one man in the company to challenge Takada: Shinya Hashimoto, NJPW’s stalwart defender against all outside threats.

Despite not looking all that impressive at first glance – he was stout, sported a big belly, weird hair and mutton chops, and no discernable physique to speak of – Hashimoto was a force to be feared. He kicked extremely hard especially with kicks, akin to Toshiaki Kawada from All Japan. He also had one of the sickest finishers Brainbusters ever to the point that it might as well have been a repositioned Steiner Screwdriver but without any added safety mechanisms.

So here was Hashimoto defending NJPW’s honor against an outside invader who happened to be carrying his company’s most coveted prize and making a mockery of everything he stood for. Hashimoto might not have been the best mat wrestler or had the most diverse of backgrounds but he knew how to hit incredibly hard and knew how to spike his opponents on their heads. But could he succeed with that here and save his company, or would Takada prove that he and his boys were the better fighters?

The Match

This took place on April 29, 1996. It was rated **** out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

The crowd is incredibly loud at the opening bell, which is itself impressive since the Tokyo Dome is a cavernous structure that swallows up sound quite easily. They do a Greco-Roman knuckle lock and Hashimoto powers Takada down. Takada out-grapples Hashimoto and leg sweeps him to the mat. They trade arm holds on the mat until a stalemate ensues. Hashimoto lands a single calf kick and the crowd pops bigtime. This angers Takada so he drills Hashimoto with several kicks to the leg and face, dropping the ace to the mat.

Takada locks in a cross armbreaker but Hashimoto gets an instant ropebreak. They lock-up again and Hashimoto goes on the attack with knees and kicks. He goes for a Brainbuster but Takada counters with a small package that doesn’t even get one. Takada goes for a leg sweep but Hashimoto counters with a keylock and then switches to a Fujiwara armbar for another huge crowd pop.

Takada gets a ropebreak and switches his stance to cover his left arm so Hashimoto switches back to calf kicks and locks in a Figure-4 leglock. Takada gets to the ropes so Hashimoto taunts him. Takada hits back with more kicks and, despite Hashimoto’s resistance, lands a backdrop suplex. Another cross armbreaker by Takada. Hashimoto fights through it so Takada locks in a half crab. Hashimoto powers out of that so Takada hits him some more. Big mistake. Hashimoto wails on him with overhead chops. It’s crazy how little Hashimoto has to do to get over 65,000 people to lose their collective shit. Takada hits another kick combo but Hashimoto ducks a roundhouse and lands a leg sweep for yet another huge pop.

Hashimoto tries a Brainbuster but Takada counters with an armbar. Hashimoto gets a ropebreak but Takada quickly reapplies the armbar to get some heat. He kicks Hashimoto’s arm but Hashimoto kicks back much harder. He tries the Brainbuster again. Takada lands behinds him but Hashimoto hits a nasty neck chop. Hashimoto lands some knees followed by a snap DDT for two. Then he hoists Takada up…and plants him with an absolutely sick Brainbuster that makes the one in the video above look like a soft fall onto a bed. Then Hashimoto locks in a triangle hold. Takada taps! The Tokyo Dome erupts in cheers as Hashimoto wins the match and the title!

Winner and NEW IWGP Heavyweight Champion after 12:53: Shinya Hashimoto

You can watch the full match here.

Review

This was a fine novelty match but I don’t see any classic status here. Yes, the crowd was super hot and lost their minds for every single thing Hashimoto did. Yes, it was a simplistic and straightforward match with a basic story of the hometown hero defending his turf against an evil outside menace. And yes, there were moments of genuine intensity on the mat when Takada tried to tap Hashimoto out and embarrass him in front of the largest stage possible. But even with those strengths this match didn’t really hit any high notes aside from Hashimoto’s insane Brainbuster at the end. And a seven-second spot doesn’t really justify twelve minutes of relatively threadbare storytelling and all-too-common motion that doesn’t create any real movement.

While the match was fast and more offensive based with little in the way of downtime or selling, it also lacked a real sense of depth. It came across as more of an exhibition match stylistically while the story was supposed to be this do-or-die situation for Hashimoto and New Japan. And while there was indeed that sense of urgency and excitement when Hashimoto was on offense, this wasn’t the case when he was on defense. For some reason Takada didn’t come across as the ultimate threat he was supposed to be. Despite out-grappling and out-striking Hashimoto on multiple occasions Takada didn’t feel like the superior mat technician he was made out to be. He didn’t have all that much control in the match save for one or two submission spots and even then it didn’t feel like he was really going to tap Hashimoto out. The crowd didn’t do their part and scream in agony or really rally behind Hashimoto when he was in trouble, only popping when he was attacking. If he was supposed to be the heroic underdog in this angle then that presentation fell flat because there really wasn’t anything challenging for him to overcome. If anything Hashimoto was just here to pummel Takada and spike him on his head. That’s all well and good on its own but I wouldn’t consider it enough to make this into some kind of monumental epic.

Final Rating: ***1/2

This is a passable match but it’s more noteworthy for what it meant for the business than what it meant for the fans. It was more about drawing a big crowd and making a historic live gate without any PPV mechanism, which speaks more to the drawing power of the angle and the company than of the actual wrestling. It was a solid enough match but nothing special since Hashimoto largely played the hits while Takada didn’t show everything he could do. Ultimately this was a case of something on paper being better than in practice or an idea/concept being the bigger draw than the actual wrestling that was promoted.

In the end the circumstances of this match and its fallout are more important and noteworthy than the match itself. If you want to see at least one of these guys at his best then Takada’s match with Super Vader in 1994 is a truly outstanding match that blows this one completely out of the water.

Thanks for reading.