|
 
New
Japan Battlezone Space II (11/23/92, Tokyo) Review
(by Justin Lee)
Introduction
After my review of Starrcade '91, I grew quite a hankering for some
more New Japan stuff from that era. So, I ordered this
here tape from good ol' Ultimo Tape World, and the result is the review that sits
before you. I have no real idea of the historical buildup
to this show is, but I do know it was during the NJPW vs
WAR feud. Genichiro Tenryu wanted Riki Choushu, Ultimo
Dragon wanted Jushin Lyger, and Scott Steiner wanted the
NWA Title. This show is held in the same arena as the
Super J Cup 1994 (the sumo hall). On with the review...
1) WAR vs NJPW: Genichiro Tenryu/Takashi Ishikawa/Kouki
Kitahara vs Shiro Koshinaka/Kengo Kimura/Masahi Aoyagi
This match starts off rather weak, but really picks up
near the end. There is loads of crowd heat, especially
for Kitahara. Why was Kitahara so hated? Someone email me
on this, as I didn't follow New Japan very closely until
recently. The basis of this match is Shrio vs Tenryu, as
they are the undisputed leaders of their respective
teams. Aoyagi really impressed me with his martial arts.
He has loads of stiff kicks in this one, especially on
Kitahara. Kitahara is basically the punching bag for most
of this match, as he sees the most ring time, and gets
bloodied up from Aoyagi's beatings. In the end, Shiro and
Tenryu share a series of nearfalls, which leads to the
entire NJPW team taking turns trying to finish off
Tenryu, but they-can't-do-it! Eventually, the WAR team
comes back and Tenryu is able to finish off Kimura with a
thunder fire powerbomb. Great match.
RATING: ****
After the match, Tenryu calls out Choushu. They have a
staredown and then Inoki comes in the ring and grants
them a match at a later date. Or at least I think that's
what happened...
2) Shinjiro Ohtani vs Yuji Nagata
Typical "two young guys in black trunks and no
kneepads who wrestle each other in the undercard"
match, although today Nagata and Ohtani are two of the
the best heavyweights and junior heavyweights in New
Japan today, respectively. This match has a 15 minute
time limit, so you know its going to be short. I think it
was clipped too. Its just around two minutes of mat work,
a few near falls by Nagata, and then a quick finish by
Ohtani when he locks on the boston crab. Ohtani roolz!
RATING: **
3) Koji Kanemoto/Osamu Nishimura vs Satoshi
Kojima/Hiroyshi Yamamoto
I feel really crappy about Nishimura's current condition
now (unoperable testicular cancer), as this guy was a
great worker. This match was joined in progress, and is
pretty much all Kojima and Nishimura. Kanemoto comes in
at the end and hits his phoenix senton. Yamamoto finishes
off Nishimura shortly after with an elbow drop.
RATING: ** 1/2
4) Jushin Lyger/Takayuki Iizuka vs Chris Benoit/Dean
Malenko
This match is as good in reality as it is on paper, if
not better. Malenko puts on the best performance of the
4, but all of them are just brilliant. This is a
predominantly technical match, and an great one at that.
Liger hits some cool high spots, including a quebrada
moonsault onto Benoit which he overshoots and smacks both
his legs hard on the railing. Ouch. Iizuka brings some
great power moves to the match, with a great uranage and
backdrop driver. The match ends when Liger puts some sort
of cradle/rollup on Malenko that cannot be explained. I
don't think this thing has ever been done before or
since.
RATING: **** 1/4
5) Scott Norton/TNT vs Tony Halme/Ron Powers
Okay, lets go down the wrestlers in this match. TNT is
better known to us American fans as Savio Vega, Tony
Halme worked in the WWF as Ludvig Borga, Scott Norton
doesn't really need an explanation, and Ron Powers
doesn't deserve one. TNT and Halme are the better two of
this match, and thankfully, they see the most ring time.
The match is clipped, thank God. Norton finishes with a
lame powerbomb on Powers.
RATING: * 1/4
6) Super Strong Machine vs Akitoshi Saito
As I stated before in my review of Starrcade '91, the
Super Strong Machine is not only niether super nor
strong, but he isn't a machine either. That's what they
call false advertising, folks. The not-so-super weak
human applies a bunch of armbars, which, to his credit,
are not-that-bad. Saito, like Aoyagi in the first match,
uses a martial arts style and is pretty decent at it. The
match is boring as hell though. Together, I think the two
could put on a better match, but I'm not going to search
through tapes to check if they actually did.
RATING: 3/4*
7) Keiji Muto/Tatsumi Fujinami vs Shinya Hashimoto/Akira
Nogami
Okay, what stupid sack of shit at New Japan's video
company decided to show the full version of Super Strong
Machine vs Akitoshi Saito and CLIP this one? Well,
anyway, what they do show is a letdown, as Fujinami does
nothing interesting at all. Welcome ot the Hashimoto and
Muto show, folks, as they are the ones keeping this match
decent. Nogami gets the crap beat out of him, and
Fujinami puts him away with a dragon sleeper. I guess
that's what happens to juniors who dabble in heavyweight
matches.
RATING: ** 1/4
8) Hellraisers (Hawk and "Power Warrior"
Kensuke Sasaki) vs Riki Choushu/Hiroshi Hase
This match is guaranteed good before it even starts since
it has Hase in it. As it turns out, I am right. The match
is the coolest squash I have ever seen, with plenty of
super-stiff lariats, and the best Hawk match I've seen in
ages. I am pretty sure this is right when the Hellraisers
just started as
a team, and may be their first match ever. Hase is so out
of his element, being a master of technical wrestling in
the ring with three lariat machines. That doesn't keep
him from hitting a sweet uranage and northern lights
suplex on Hawk. After a short period of the match being
back-and-forth, the Hellraisers end it with a Sasaki
powerslam on Hase. Too short, but understandably so. The
Hellraisers would go on to hold the IWGP tag titles in
1994.
RATING: *** 1/2
9) NWA World Title Match: Masahiro Chono vs Scott Steiner
Steiner was an accomplished college amateur wrestler, and
Chono wrestled in the Olympics or something, so its no
suprise that this is predominantly a mat wrestling match.
The opening sequence of holds is impressive, yet
ultimately long and boring. There aren't even any real
submission holds, just Greco-Roman stuff. I saw the same
thing two weeks ago on the Olympics, but at least in the
Olympics the ref broke things up when it got boring.
Steiner is the first to attempt any sort of real attack,
sending Chono outside the ring, where Steiner hits a
belly to belly suplex. Chono "injures" his back
in the move, and almost gets counted out right there.
Steiner begins to work Chono's back, finally giving the
match some sort of point. A german suplex from Steiner
gets 2. Scott ties Chono to the tree of woe and pulls his
head back, which looks pretty guesome. The crowd boos
Steiner for doing such a heelish move, and the first
shades of a heel Scott Steiner begin to come out. He does
his signature belly to belly suplex out of the corner, a
move he still does today, for 2. A superplex and pump
handle slam both get 2 as well. Chono comes back with a
single arm ddt. He hits a diving shoulderblock and 2
Yakuza kicks, followed by an STF and jujigatame attempt,
but Steiner reaches the ropes and comes back with a tiger
driver. Steiner tries a few submission holds: STF, figure
four, sharpshooter - all broken by Chono. Scott goes for
a flying body press, but Chono rolls with it for 2.
Steiner gets up and charges at Chono, who catches Steiner
with an inside cradle to retain the title.
RATING: ***
So...
Let's Review:
Best Match: Liger/Iizuka vs Malenko/Benoit (**** 1/4)
Worst Match: Super Strong Machine vs Akitoshi Saito (3/4
*)
Historical Significance: Tenryu and Choushu agree to have
a match
Why should I buy this tape?
Two ****+ matches is pretty good for a 2 hour tape. There
is a three match stretch between the Scott Norton match
and the Keiji Mutoh match where things get a little
boring, but the rest is very watchable. I just like
watching Ohtani go over Nagata, as that would never
happen today. Malenko's
performance is a must-see as well. However, if you cannot
sit through a lot of mat wrestling, whether it be
exciting (Malenko) or godawful (Super Strong Machine),
this tape may not be your cup of tea. It worked for me
though.
Buy this tape
by clicking http://www.ultimotapes.com/tapes/tape138.htm
Back To The ShootAngle Main Page
|
|