December 1993

This was a fun, evenly matched contest, with Naruse hanging with Todorov on the mat as they roll around, trying to counter counters and reverse holds. Todorov uses some cool takeovers and suplexes whereas Naruse is more focused on the striking, primarily knees and kicks. He also brings his submission game. working through a crossface hold, a triangle, and a kneerbar. Naruse continues to improve throughout 1993 and this was probably one of his better singles performances, although Todorov gets the better of him in the end and submits him with a nasty rear necklock.

Essentially a Volk Han squash match but it's still Volk doing his thing, which rules. Other than a judo throw into a cool arm-trap submission, Orlov doesn't do much else here but get dominated by Han on the mat. Han wrangles him in a cool side STF, lands a few slaps and knees, and of course, he's aware of his positioning at all times, scooting Orlov away from the ropes as he takes control of a leglock. Orlov can’t get much going and when he does manage a hold, he’s usually positioned too close to the ropes to be much of a threat. Volk tries to submit him with the single leg crab hold but finishes him off with the classic jujigatame.

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Took a look at a couple of Jurassic Powers matches. They're barely mentioned in past posts and I guess their reputation is unremarkable. I've only known of them from Oliver Copp's TNM7 sim fantasy write-ups from the late '90s. The name grabbed me and the randomness of Norton & Hercules is intriguing. Thought this might be the Nasties from the '94 Cactus wars, but not really. Both teams hit hard, but the match itself is very bland. Basically a Power hits some moves, gets cutoff and double teamed as a face-in-peril, rinse repeat. Norton does some fantastic selling of his bandaged arm, including having trouble crawling back to his corner and initially failing…

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Nothing special, very forgettable hard hitting match. The Jurassic Powers are basically a 1993 Powers Of Pain and it's shocking Vince didn't bring them in to dominate his tag division. Steiners always look good, but this is a very by the numbers deal. Norton and Hercules hit a spike powerbomb on Scott that looks nasty. Actually got me annoyed because there was no reason for Scott to land straight on his head/neck, especially with two monsters holding him up. Finishing sequence is decent, but after the Scott powerbomb it was hard to believe he'd get back up and immediately take control. Looks like Hercules may have attempted the finish early as he jumps off…

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs Power Warrior - NJPW 12/13/93 I was expecting the Hoss Battle of the Century here. I am remember really liking their 1/4/95 match, but I actually don't remember anything about it besides the fact I really liked it. I thought this was a pretty good I run through my routine you run through your routine match because at the end of the day they both have really good movesets. I was hoping for more testosterone and macho pissing contests. Sasaki controls early on the mat and he is not half bad. I am more pissed about the fact that Hashimoto was in a cross armbreaker for as long as he was and didn't even sell. He really shouldn…

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More or less the same story as before - Sakuraba is going to kick and Allen is going to leg trip>lay on the ground. Allen’s takedowns look a little more impactful and crisp, however - I mean, it's not a good match by any means but better than most Allen affairs. Sakuraba grabs a choke and tries to hold on but that doesn't work. Allen grabs the double wristlock, slams him down and forces a modified double wristlock for the submission.

For a match that's less than four minutes long, this pretty much ruled. Kanehara comes very aggressive with the kicks and slaps, while Lydick is trying to simultaneously block the strikes and grab Kanehara for a suplex. He throws him with a belly-to-belly out of the corner and tries for the single leg but Kanehara is quick to the ropes. Again, he tries to wrap him up for a German but Kanehara clings to the ropes. Kanehara snags him with a rear choke and drags him down - the fans are lapping every second of this up. Lydick throws a few more suplexes but when he tries for another German, Kanehara picks the ankle and gets him in a heel hook. The final seconds has Lydick chas…

Alas, this marks Bobchik’s final UWFi appearance and second to last pro-wrestling match ever. Takayama's on him with knees and kicks and big open hand slaps, doing a good job of avoiding Bobchick's takedowns and throws. He's able to roll him up with a heel hook but Bobchick escapes. Bobchick does manage a couple of German suplexes but in the end, he complains about his ankle and can't make it back to his feet. Not sure what happened by Takayama wins by default. Not a great way to go out for Bobchick.

Tenta's thing in WAR seemed to be wrestling ex-WWF dudes lol. Warlord and him haven't actually wrestled each other in singles ever (yes, even in the WWF) so this is a surprising first. Obviously Warlord isn't remembered for his workrate classics but I think they really make this work for a 9 minute match for a number of reasons I'll get to while going though the match. Warlord and co shoulder barge before Tenta takes a bump off a good big boot and then eats a scoop slam, which got the crowd going great here; already they are super hyped to see these two hoss guys jumping around. Warlord gets in a good flying clothesline before his opponent takes over with a running dropki…

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