NEW JAPAN vs. UWF INTERNATIONAL TOTAL WAR

October 9, 1995

Shinjiro Ohtani . . . reminds everyone why he was amongst the top tiers of workers during this period.

Nobuhiko Takada . . . is obviously much more of a pro then Akira Maeda was, which is a lucky thing for Keiji Mutoh.

Shinya Hashimoto . . . gets more of a fight than he (or anyone else) bargained for.

YUJI NAGATA/TOKIMITSU ISHIZAWA vs. KAZUSHI SAKURABA/HIROMITSU KANEHARA

Well, you can’t say the Young Lions didn’t take the “Total War” part of this show title to heart. If nothing else, all four of them make it perfectly clear how little they think of each other. Unfortunately, it’s often done at the expense of the match. Until the final seconds, when Ishizawa traps Sakuraba in the Triangle, nothing feels like it’s all that important. A lot of the work is what you’d expect in rookie matches from either promotion; lots of attempted takedowns and submissions attempted when the opponent is near or in the ropes. Even the few big spots don’t seem to matter all that much. Nagata catches a kick from Kanehara, but Kanehara peppers him with slaps and punches while balancing on one leg. Nagata refuses to let go, weathering the strikes before transitioning into a German suplex. The suplex gets a huge reaction, but Kanehara jumps back to his feet like it’s nothing. It’s even more strange considering how spots like the German are treated in UWFI. All four of them had roughly the same amount of experience, so it's hard to understand why nobody stepped up to try to take this to another level, unless both teams expected the other one to do so.

SHINJIRO OHTANI vs. KENICHI YAMAMOTO

Unlike the last match, Ohtani’s disdain for Yamamoto doesn’t overshadow the match; rather it is the match. There are few greater sights to see in a wrestling ring than Shinjiro Ohtani roughing up an opponent, and this is pretty much a clinic. He never hesitates to grab Yamamoto by the hair, grind his forearm in his face or even stand on his head. When Ohtani locks in an armbar and Yamamoto gets the ropes, Ohtani refuses to break and makes the ref forcibly separate them. And in an interpromotional feud like this, and being on his home turf, the crowd absolutely loves him for it. Possibly the highlight of the match is when Yamamoto connects a kick to the midsection that takes Ohtani by surprise. Yamamoto wants the ref to declare him down and start counting, like in UWFI rules. He finally does start a count, but Ohtani is recovered and makes a disgusted face at the ref.

Ohtani's contempt alone isn't enough; he also understands the kid needs opportunities to shine. Ohtani obliges him with an utterly sick bump on a German suplex and then flailing to the ropes when Yamamoto follows the suplex with an armbar. Whenever Yamamoto gets the opening to tee off on Ohtani with strikes, Ohtani immediately covers up. Even though only the one kick to the midsection does any real damage, Ohtani reacting that way gives them credence. There’s even something of a payoff to the idea that Yamamoto’s best chance to win is through his striking by having a lucky shot from Ohtani be the lead-in to the finish: Ohtani connects a lucky spin kick that stuns Yamamoto and he follows up with a dropkick in the corner before using his Dragon suplex (a brilliant reminder of how UWFI treats suplexes). He can’t get the right positioning for the pinfall, so he lets Yamamoto go and cranks a chickenwing armlock for the submission. What makes the finish work is that it doesn't reject the UWFI style; if anything, it validates it. Ohtani's win comes from a spin kick, a Dragon suplex and a chickenwing armlock. For a style built on "Kick, Submission, Suplex," that's about as strong an endorsement as possible. ***1/4

YOSHIHIRO TAKAYAMA vs. TAKASHI IIZUKA

This doesn’t hit the same level as the previous match (mostly because almost nobody could touch Ohtani for selling at this time), but this is yet another fun and hateful affair. If one doesn’t already know the results or the finish, then there are several points when it seems like one of them is on the verge of winning until the other pulls off a surprise counter. Iizuka takes Takayama over with an ippon seoinage while Takayama is throwing knees at him, and Takayama escapes the chickenwing and counters into a juji-gatame that gives UWFI their first win of the night.

Neither of them has any qualms about doing something that might be legal but is morally questionable, this is especially true when it comes to using the ropes. There are points when both men will be attempting a submission too close to the ropes and the ref will call to break. They’ll break the hold and then immediately pounce with something like kicks to the back and then once the other man is no longer touching the ropes, they’ll go right back to another submission, or in Takayama’s case, a ground and pound. As has been the running theme of the night, the overriding idea here is that these groups do not like each other, and both men have no qualms about throwing (and taking) as many stiff kicks, knees and punches as they possibly can to get that message across. The work itself is far from smooth, which is part of its charm, but the way the match plays out creates a sense of parity between the wrestlers, which neither of the previous matches had done. The Ohtani match was a one-man show and the tag match felt more like an exhibition than something with a life of its own.

KEIJI MUTOH © vs. NOBUHIKO TAKADA (IWGP Heavyweight Title)

Apart from the finishing sequence and some peculiar selling choices from Mutoh, this isn’t actively bad. On some level it’s remarkable that this comes off as well as it does, considering that Takada hadn’t been a ‘pro wrestler’ since 1984 and Mutoh wasn’t the sort of wrestler that could adapt to work something closer to the UWFI style, the way Kawada and Hashimoto could.

The style of matwork used is decidedly UWFI, with the way they shoot in for the leg to take the other man down, and the jockeying for position and trying to work their way to something more dangerous. That’s where Mutoh’s selling becomes an issue; Takada wins a mat exchange by trapping Mutoh in an Achilles lock. Anyone in a UWFI ring, be it Takada in the main event or Miyato in the opening match, would have sold the effects and either scrambled for the ropes or put in a flurry of work to get free. Mutoh does neither. He just sits there as though he’s in a headlock. The same thing happens a bit later when Takada wins another mat exchange and secures a legbar, another hold that's not considered lethal but would still be sold as having consequences, but Mutoh just lays there for a minute and then casually grabs the ropes. And when Takada does secure something more credible as a finish, namely two separate juji-gatames, Mutoh reacts exactly the way you’d expect him to. So, it’s not a case of Mutoh not understanding how to put over the submissions, he’d just decided to be picky about it.

The match feels like a big UWFI main event, and Takada treats it as such; the two suplexes from Mutoh are given the same respect they would in a UWFI ring. Mutoh scores a German suplex and a backdrop suplex in quick succession and they instantly halt Takada’s momentum and leave him stunned. Mutoh tries to pounce with the moonsault, and Takada can only roll out of the way and continue to try to get his bearings together. It makes the decision for Mutoh to retain with the figure four even more perplexing. With the way he put over those two suplexes, it would have made more sense for Mutoh to score another one and then have Takada be too stunned to avoid the moonsault. Or, if it was necessary for him to go over with the hold, they could have taken a page from the old Ric Flair playbook and had Takada pass out from the pain. They get to the same place, but in a way that doesn’t diminish Takada’s aura or the UWFI style.

It’s a shame too, because Takada puts on a performance worthy of a Dome main event and when Mutoh is able (or willing…) to follow his lead, the results are usually good. They have all the intensity of their undercard counterparts. Takada can tee off with his kicks and Mutoh sells just fine, and Takada returns the favor when Mutoh sharks in on his leg with the dragon screws. As bad as the figure four finish was, Takada does everything he can to make it work. He sells the pain that the hold is causing and even pulls out the old Rhodes/Steamboat/Sting figure four struggle spot, grabbing Mutoh's leg and trying to lift it up to alleviate the pressure. He scrambles for the ropes and frantically kicks away at Mutoh whenever he tries to apply the hold. It’s a stark contrast to the sort of respect he gets from Mutoh. Late in the match, Takada counters another dragon screw attempt with an enzuigiri, only for Mutoh to blow it off to finish the spot and get the figure four on one last time. Mutoh fighting through the pain would work; even doing something like a Kobashi ‘fighting spirit’ sort of recovery would play well in front of this crowd. Instead, he hardly registers the kick (which is rather egregious itself, given that it’s one of Inoki’s finishers) and just picks up where he left off. It's the most glaring example of a problem that runs throughout the match. All things considered, it wouldn’t be entirely accurate to label this as a ‘clash of styles.’ It’d be closer to the truth to say that Takada understood that he needed to make concessions for the New Japan style whereas Mutoh wasn’t fully committed to bridging that gap.

JYUSHIN LYGER vs. NAOKI SANO

This is easily the most ‘New Japan’ out of all the matches thus far. It was the right call in this case. Lyger and Sano already had plenty of history from 1989-90, and Lyger wasn't the type to work a full blown shootstyle match anyway. The animosity between them is still present, as shown when Lyger tries to jumpstart with a rolling kick, and grabs Sano and hurls him to the floor. Their matwork is mostly filler, but it serves its purpose. It slows things down after the hot start and establishes that Sano isn't trying to drag Lyger into unfamiliar territory. Even when he goes to a juji-gatame, it's presented as something Lyger can reasonably navigate rather than a foreign weapon.

It also helps that they have a pretty nice finishing stretch, which makes Sano’s win come down to his ability to think ahead and outsmart Lyger. The only thing that seems out of place is that last juji-gatame, which comes after Lyger misses the diving headbutt. Lyger lingers for a few seconds and then manages to clasp his hands and roll to the ropes. But we don’t see any lingering effects from him afterwards. Lyger’s arm being worn down, even if only a little, would be a good explanation for why Sano dodges the palm strike and why Lyger can’t get his shoulders up after the Tiger suplex. The finish isn’t the same sort of hostile message that Ohtani sent when he essentially used UWFI’s own philosophy to win his match, but it’s not all that different. Sano was able to take out New Japan’s junior kingpin (even without the title around his waist at this point) and do it by working their sort of match. ***

RIKI CHOSYU vs. YOJI ANJO

This is a waste of time and talent. Chosyu sells nothing, not even allowing Anjo to win a meaningful mat exchange (the one area he should have a marked advantage in). Anjo's one submission attempt, a cross kneelock, is treated like a rest hold, and Chosyu submits him with the Scorpion, after barely breaking a sweat. Anjo would have been the ideal person to put in an Ohtani-like role opposite one of the New Japan young guns, letting the feud simmer and build toward a match like this against a top name. Instead, Chosyu treats him as little more than enhancement talent and steamrolls him.

KENSUKE SASAKI vs. MASAHITO KAKIHARA

I didn’t think it was possible for there to be a bigger slap in the face to UWFI than Chosyu pissing on Anjo, but this comes close. If nothing else, the Chosyu match was over quickly, instead of dragging on like this does. But it’s the same basic principle; Kakihara’s speed and technical skills wind up looking negligible against Sasaki. It doesn’t matter that Kakihara can dance around and connect several clean shots to the face, and that he busts open Sasaki’s nose on a palm strike. It doesn’t matter that Kakihara swings so hard that he nearly knocks himself over. Sasaki just stands there looking unaffected. Kakihara’s submission win looks less like an earned victory through superior wrestling, and more like a fluke where the kid got a lucky break and rolled into a cross kneelock that Sasaki couldn’t break. Sasaki doesn’t react or sell like it’s a debilitating hold that he’s frantic to escape from. So yes, Kakihara wins, but he isn’t ‘put over’ in the traditional sense.

SHINYA HASHIMOTO vs. TATSUO NAKANO

It figures that the one match that could have gotten away with being a squash, considering their rank in their respective companies, wasn’t. What makes it work is that the openings that Nakano uses to take Hashimoto by surprise don’t look obvious. A good example is the sleeper sequence: Hashimoto bends Nakano’s arm to break the hold, but Nakano counters with some headbutts and then tries for an armbar. Nakano can’t fully lock it in, but he forces Hashimoto to hurriedly block the hold and exert the energy to pick up Nakano and slam him down. Hashimoto wasn’t in any sort of danger, but he had to work harder than expected against someone at the bottom of the UWFI side. Nakano’s vertical suplex is another good moment in that regard. Hashimoto unloads with slaps and chops and thinks he’s done enough to go for the kill and calls for the brainbuster, only for Nakano to reverse him with the suplex. It doesn’t put Hashimoto in any real trouble, but it’s another reminder that he’s unable to take him lightly.

But when push comes to shove, Hashimoto shows how easily he can dispatch Nakano. He sees Nakano trying for a takedown and avenges the vertical suplex with his DDT. After that, he waits for Nakano to get up, waylays him with a couple of big kicks and hits the brainbuster. Hashimoto’s win officially comes from a triangle choke, but the brainbuster was the kill shot for all intents and purposes. As a match, it’s not very long and it’s not very deep, but the message it sends is a powerful one: Nakano isn’t made to look like Hashimoto’s equal, but unlike some of those higher up the card (namely Anjo and Kakihara), he forces Hashimoto to take him seriously.

Conclusion: The frustrating thing about this show is that it repeatedly demonstrates that the concept could work. The wrestlers who were willing to meet in the middle produced some good, and fun, matches. The ones who were more interested in proving a point simply didn't.