(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroshi Hase – NJPW G1 Climax 1993

I’ve been wanting to a deep dive into 1990s New Japan for a long time but just didn’t have the chance. NJPW World, while detailed, doesn’t have all that much from the 1980s and 1990s. And when it comes to 1990s Japanese wrestling, much of the focus when it comes to NJPW has been on the junior heavyweights. When it came to heavyweights, more attention has been given to All Japan since they had the Four Heavenly Kings, whose matches still hold up today as some of the greatest and most timeless contests to ever take place. Thankfully one of the regular readers here brought to my attention a massive online archive of wrestling matches that might be found anywhere else. So again, big thanks to Manjiimortal for sharing a link filled with literally thousands of wrestling matches, including this little gem that has gone under the radar for way too long.

The Story

This is a straightforward G1 tournament match between two big stars in the company. Chono was arguably the bigger star of the two, being one of the Three Musketeers of Fighting Spirit. Before he slowed down and went all looks-crazy decked out in black, Chono was a solid if not passable wrestler, whose biggest contribution to wrestling at the time was creating the STF submission hold. Meanwhile, Hase was lower on the card but arguably the better wrestler. He was more of a midcarder with a much more promising amateur pedigree who had more under his belt already. He created two unique moves of his own: the Northern Lights Suplex and the uranage, both of which would go on to be spammed and copied countless times. He is also credited for his role in the birth of the Muta Scale, for wrestling in that one match that, for a time, was considered the measuring stick for bleeding during matches. And this is an aside, but I just got my hands on his 2002 book and it’s definitely one of the most interesting books I’ve read in a while. Not just because he has a unique perspective on wrestling, but because he also gives insight into his career as a politician and how he thinks a public servant should think about their constituents.

Anyways, the only other important thing to note here is this match took place after Chono suffered a broken neck. That will definitely play a role in how this match progresses.

The Match

This took place on August 6, 1993.

An estimated 11,500 people pack Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan and my God are they loud. Basic switch exchange to start. Hase lands a fireman’s carry. They do the knuckle-lock and Chono gains the upper hand until Hase counters with a hook kick. Amateur take-downs and technical wrestling follow. Chono block an armbar and picks the leg. Really smooth counter-wrestling going on. Chono fights to his feet and bounces off the ropes with a shoulderblock. We get a classic drop-down/leapfrog sequence that ends with Hase hitting a stungun on the top rope to start working the neck.

Hase uses the ropes to apply more pressure on Chono’s neck with chokes and chinlocks. Hase follows with a trio of swinging neckbreakers, a fireman’s carry stungun, a Stunner minus the kick, a jawbreaker, some forearm shots to the throat against the edge of the ring, and some stunguns to the metal barricade, all of which continue wreaking havoc on Chono’s neck. In the ring Hase continues with a Gotch-style piledriver, kicks to the head, another Stunner, another neckbreaker, and a protracted dragon sleeper. But wait, there’s more. Hase follows with a Backdrop, a long camel clutch, and some running body shots into the ropes. Hase goes for another Backdrop when Chono suddenly counters with a belly-to-belly out of nowhere. Chono its some enzuigiris and goes to the top rope. Apparently one of those kicks does extra damage because Hase drops back down before Chono can land a diving attack. But hey, at least he’s getting time to recover.

Chono bodyslams Hase and starts working the leg. There’s no commentary in this video so we can hear the ring much more clearly and Hase’ doing an amazing job of selling Chono’s offense. Hase gets a ropebreak so Chono kicks his calves. Chono follows with some random figure-4-type hold and transitions into some sort of deathlock until Hase gets a ropebreak. Chono lands a knee breaker and goes to the top rope but Hase cuts him off. Hase hits an avalanche northern lights suplex out of nowhere followed by a bridging German suplex for two. Both guys take turns hitting big boots, much to the crowd’s delight. Backdrop by Chono. Chono starts working the leg again but Hase counters with a cross armbar. Chono counter-wrestles into another leglock. Cobra twist into a pin gets two so Chono locks in the STF. Hase gets a ropebreak so Chono locks it in aga – wait, no, Hase counters with an STF of his own. Hase struggles to cinch it in because his knee is giving him trouble so he removes his kneepad. Figure-4 leglock by Hase. Both guys roll under the ropes on one side and fall out of the ring, still locked together. Damn, well there’s something I’ve never seen before.

Both guys fall onto the ringside mats still locked together and Hase continues applying pressure. The ref begins his ring-out count but Hase’s using that to his advantage. He lets go and returns at the count of sixteen. Chono barely makes it in at 19.5, at which point Hase goes to the legs again. Chono hits back with kicks and attempts some other dive. Hase cuts him off again. This time Chono head-butts him down and lands a diving clothesline. Folding powerbomb by Chono. Two-count. Chono locks in his own Figure-4 and this time does the exact same thing that Hase did to him moments earlier. They repeat the near count-out and this time Chono re-enters first, which allows him to strike first with a running forearm. Chono bounces off the ropes a second time…and runs into a gorgeous uranage. But Hase’s not done. A second uranage plants Chono on the mat. One, two, Chono kicks out. Bridging northern lights suplex. One, two, Hase’s knee buckles and breaks up the pin. Amazing selling. Hase tries again. Two-count. Both guys get to their feet and stagger, drunk-legged. Hase blocks a running kick and attempts another uranage. Chono fights him off and counters with a DDT for two. Chono lands a running kick but on his next attempt Hase blocks and decks him with a lariat. Then Hase does a backwards STF, choking Chono from the mat as Chono’s body is lifted into the air. Chono has no choice but to give up. Hase wins.

Winner after 26:46: Hiroshi Hase

You can find watch the match here.

Review

Oh man, that was great. It was way better than I thought it’d be. Those 27 minutes flew by. This looked and felt like a classical wrestling match in every sense of the word without anything coming across as dull or out-dated. They wrestled on the mat. They told a story with Hase targeting Chono’s neck and beating him down relentlessly. Though Chono wasn’t the best at playing FIP he still did a passable enough job of giving the audience a reason to rally behind him. Though the match didn’t have the classic face/heel dynamic, had this match taken place in front of an AJPW or American crowd then Hase likely would’ve been booed for some of his more vicious tactics, even if they were completely logical given Chono’s obvious weakness. When both guys weren’t working on the mat (and doing stuff that was actually interesting, not just bland matwork executed for its own sake), they were also wearing each other down with big moves and explosive techniques. There weren’t that many high spots and nothing looked too contrived or dangerous. And best of all they did a truly inventive spot in this match that wasn’t just shock and awe: the fall-to-the-floor Figure-4 was unique but it also furthered the story with Hase wearing down Chono’s legs and then Chono doing the same. It added tension to what would’ve been an otherwise repetitive ring-out spot by making it seem that Hase was totally in control and Chono was really fighting from beneath with one body part after another being worn down.

The only thing that really works against this match to some degree is, well, Chono. Though he did everything he could to stay in lockstep with Hase, the fact is Hase wrestled circles around him and carried more than his fair share of the weight. Though Chono was good at catching up and countering, he just wasn’t all that good when on offense or in control. It seems like the whole point of the match was to paint Chono as an underdog yet he didn’t really show that immense Fighting Spirit. He came off a bit too mechanical when attacking and didn’t seem to land anything nearly as impactful or meaningful as Hase. Even his STF submission hold lacked as much build compared to how Hase built towards his finishers and his last-second surprise. I think that with the tiniest bit of effort and a bit more of a strong showing from Chono, this could’ve been a much better match and have been an instant classic.

Final Rating: ****3/4

All that I said about Chono in that last paragraph was but a minor nitpick; beyond that this match was tremendous. It’s a sleeper hit with two guys taking a basic premise without much in the way of grand narrative and making everything between the bells matter so much more. These guys had flawless chemistry when interacting and the way they moved so seamlessly from one sequence to another made this match just breeze by. Even if one was to watch this match on mute (which would be totally fine since it’s all action and no theatrics) the smoothness of the action makes it a really satisfying viewing experience.

So while it’s not the tensest or most dramatic of matches, there’s still enough exciting wrestling here to really make it worth the short time investment.

Thanks for reading.