Talk about it here.

The rematch, which I also liked. I think the tone of this is really pitch perfect, as the fans seem to be into this as something more "legit" than normal, and Hashimoto does a pretty excellent job of getting Ogawa over as someone unique, tough and capable. No one will mistake the mat exchanges for the best of RINGS or anything, but this is effective work and the match feels like a big deal. No one in New Japan except Hashimoto could have pulled this feud off.

I'm not sure how this could've been much better given the talent involved. Ogawa looked a little more comfortable here than in their first match, and the whole thing carried the ragged intensity of a real fight. I particularly liked the ending, with Hash surviving the combo that put him down in April and finding enough space for a brutal knockout kick. This felt like neither a typical New Japan main event nor high-end shootstyle. But it clicked as a pro wrestling spectacle.

Ogawa looks clumsy on the ground trying to put submissions on. It felt at times like the crowd was more behind Hashimoto surviving the submissions and less believable in that he would actually win. Hash out of nowhere hits a couple shots and gets the knockout which is good but Ogawa got the towel thrown in on him to not look as bad. This stretcher job was behind Hart/Austin and Mysterio/NWO by far.

I enjoyed this little feud a good bit. I will attest that Ogawa's shortcoming and awkwardness kind of add to the danger of him in this type of environment. Finish felt like a big triumphant victory for Hash.

I didn't quite like the body of this as much as the first match, but that may just because I went into that viewing Ogawa as a total unknown quantity with no idea what to expect, and that aspect of him is gone for me now. That ending, though, holy shit--pitch-perfect in every way, from concept to execution.

Fun match. Felt like a superior version of an early UWF-i main event. Ogawa's awkwardness prevented it from being better, but like Chad said, he still managed to appear as a threat to Hashimoto. This was a match Hash couldn't afford to lose and Ogawa came across as the world's most dangerous banana peel.

I didn't like this much despite really enjoying Ogawa's two big matches in the 2000s. Very clunky here.

 

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs Naoya Ogawa - NJPW 5/3/97

 

I have watched two Ogawa matches in my life and I loved both (w/Murakami vs Hashimoto/Iizuka & vs Kawada in Zero-One). He has an amazing presence in those matches. First off he is a giant compared to most Japanese heavyweights. He knows like two moves but he is deadly. He is so raw and unpolished. There is a sense of total chaos when he is in a match. I was expecting more of the same here. This is only second match in pro wrestling. In his debut match, he defeated Shinya Hashimoto in April in a non-title bout. Now the title is on the line. Pre-match clips we see Ogawa chopping wood with Inoki and doing some sparring with Inoki. Ogawa is rocking the Judo gi.

 

I was pretty disappointed in this match. Ogawa was not raw in the chaotic way. He was raw in the very clunky way. The match just felt so low and without energy. It was exactly opposite of the anything can happen feel of the 2000s matches. Ogawa being a world class judoka can take Hashimoto down at will, but cant do much else. However, he is quite good at strike defense so Hashimoto cant land much in the way of strikes and thus makes for a boing match. Once Ogawa took him down he tried to finish with cross armbreakers and double wristlocks common finishes but Hashimoto was too adept at blocking. It felt oddly boring, which I am surprised by. Hashimoto snuck in a spinning back chop, which you watch him practice in his sparring session, which is a neat touch. Then he goes for a leg bar. I hate the leg bar. He seems to try keep taking Ogawa down by the gi but Ogawa blocks. Big finish run is Ogawa gets the Oo-soto-gari, Space Tornado Ogawa, crowd oooohs and aaaahs and he puts Hashimoto in a rear naked choke. Hashimoto makes the ropes. Hashimoto from the ground sweeps the leg and then kicks Ogawa's leg out from under him. Ogawa takes a really clunky bump but looks so much realistic, I dig it. Then he kicks Ogawa's head off. He fucking punted him. Ogawa is out and someone from his camp throws in the towel. Not the spectacle I thought it would be. Pretty boring until the last minute or so, but the last minute is pretty damn good. Disappointing.