Posted February 16, 200916 yr comment_5437256 DVD #16 ---------------------------------------------------- December 7th: The Osaka prefectural physical education hall Japan cup league match deciding tournament Goto, Saito, Sakaguchi vs Hall, Orton, Murdoch - JIP and the first match from this tourney that didn't do much for me. Hoshino, Choshu, Inoki vs Scott Hall, Orton, Murdoch - Nowhere near as good as their earlier league match. It had some fun Murdoch-Hoshino exchanges but no nomination. Kantaro Hoshino, Riki Choshu, Antonio Inoki vs Shinya Hashimoto, Masa Chono, Tatsumi Fujinami - This wasn't the best match of the tournament or even all that close. But it told an interesting story as Choshu and Fujinami canceled each other out and left the young lions to try and kill the old king, Inoki. I thought they could have pulled more drama out of the last segment if Inoki had seemed a little more wounded. But the key twist was dramatic and surprising and Hoshino again did some good work as the warm-up act. It goes on the block. December 9th: Korakuen Hall Choshu, Inoki vs Orton, Murdoch - This was OK but not as good as the stuff between these four in the trios matches. IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship / Koshinaka vs Yamada - Yamada played the underdog role better than anybody in NJ at this point, and he also had the best flying offense. They didn't just run through all their spots. Moments of selling that deserved time got it. And the closing burst of nearfalls worked really well, because it fit the story of Koshinaka trying to put away this improbably resilient little squirt. Really good shit here -- best juniors match in awhile and an easy yes vote. IWGP Heavyweight, WCWA Heavyweight double championship / Fujinami vs Kerry Von Erich - I enjoyed the claw spots and if they had to do a non-finish, I guess a blood stoppage was as good as you could want. I wish they had worked a little longer after the restart to build to the blood. But the whole match had a pleasing intensity to it. I have no problem moving it forward.
