January 1994

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post-SWS Nakano matches are rare as hen's teeth, which is awful because he is such an interesting worker, as his basic technical stuff looks tough as nails, and then he will stand up and kick you in the kidney. This was an extremely basic juniors match (that was half missed by the camera guy) where Winger added nothing, but was still a decent Nakano carryjob. Nakano made Winger struggle for everything, and at one point popped Winger straight in the mouth with a huge punch and then proceeded to stomp and kneedrop the back of his head as if trying to give him brain damage. Japanese sleazy unprofessionality at it's best.

This was pretty much a sprint and made me think the Headhunters might be one of the most underrated tag teams ever. This was not just funny sleazy pro wrestling, it was basically like a Twin Towers vs. Rockers match, except far seedier, blood-drenched and violent. Headhunters were absolutely pasting the Twins with chairshots, powerbombs and their combined FATNESS, and I loved every second of it. Meanwhile Jado/Gedo were hitting superkicks and flying around, and the Headhunters did a really good job setting themselves up for their offense and bumping around like huge bowling pins. Also, the guy operating the camera finally gets his shit together and we get a full picture o…

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Somebody got a haircut! In addition to that big news, this is Choshu's return from a nasty injury. I don't think he was 100% yet but I guess he didn't want to miss the big Dome show (or lose any power with a prolonged absence...) This isn't a high-end match in the rivalry, nor was it consequential enough to go on a Yearbook when so much other, bigger stuff from this show made it. But it's a fun stiff-fest between two guys who know how to get the most out of the least. At the very least you have the compelling contrast of Choshu's lariat vs. Fujiwara's finisher which is basically an ideal counter to the Lariat. Finish is something I feel like I've seen between these two be…

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Another round of beefy dudes clobbering eachother. This wasn't peak WAR interpromotional material, but I still probably liked the best out of all the matches on the show. Particularily because the whole match felt thoroughly violent, and Fuyuki and Koshinaka were really at each other's throat. They randomly broke out into this super violent exchange that lead to a poor sap getting punched repeatedly and all was right in the world. I continue to enjoy Goto in these Heisei Ishingun tags as old guy with 2 moves who comes in to lariat and backdrop fools and nothing else, altough there was some sloppiness on his part. Hara's career was winding down but he could still take some…

Oddly enough, Norman Smiley fit perfectly into WAR. I've yet to check out his mexican work but this may be the best stuff he's ever done. He was allowed to work as this tough as nails shooter who would dominate on the ground and potatoe dudes with nasty shots. Basically an UWF version of Regal. His holds looked clinical and when it was time to kick Orihara like a dog he wasn't playing around. I imagine if Smiley had faced Hashimoto in a big match or something we'd all be Smiley superfans. Orihara works as a Smiley opponent because he is CRAZY and will bust out unexpected highspots. Worth checking out.

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This is an immediate follow-up to the post match angle on the January 9th show. Mayumi jumps Chigusa in her entrance and they brawl outside the arena, we don't actually see what happens in the first couple of minutes we can just see the crowd all on the feet looking at the back of the venue before Mayumi marches to the ring triumphantly, and then Chigusa returns staggered and bloody. The match feels like the first time Chigusa really establishes herself as a power wrestler (e.g. she's doing military presses now) and also Ozaki is a full on savage heel biting Chigusa's head wound. The match is really great, visceral and violent. There's also a fun dynamic with the crowd be…

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Hot damn this was amazing for a few minutes of a sprint; had this happened in WAR people would've been raving about this. These two randomly decided to have a hard as fuck match after Izumida starts getting rough with his shots due to having a bloody mouth (from a blow we don't see due to clipping) so Slinger does the same and as a result we get stiff as hell lariats, back of the head backdrops, all of the gross stuff, these two just unloaded as much violence as you could possibly have in a mid 90's mainstream undercard. Izu does a crazy moonsault out of nowhere and Slinger is doing random huge bicycle kicks to top things off alongside just kicking the guy in the fac…

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BEEF. It's a four letter word, but it means so much more when you have these two in the ring stomping around and really setting the tension right off the bat between two fairly big dudes. The match is worked classic WWF Earthquake style as Tenta is the huge target that just won't go down for anything, so Fuyuki has to scratch and claw for everything, even a basic ass snapmare has him just wrenching Tenta over as much as possible just to try to get him into position. Tenta takes his usual signature bump over the ropes to the outside and Fuyuki adds to this with a clean leaping crossbody off the apron. Despite all of this though alongside a really well-done scoop slam Tenta…