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NJPW, 3/8/03 (SXW) (Buy)
Hiratsuka City Gymnasium 2,700 Fans - No Vacancy
1. American Dragon & Stampede Kid beat El Samurai & Ryusuke Taguchi (8:42) when Dragon used a cobra clutch crossface hold on Taguchi.
The second SXW taping of "HYPER BATTLE 2003" followed up on the 3/7 WPW. I haven't seen 3/7 yet due to a problem with the tape I got, so will go back to that when I get a replacement. Now, there's rarely a New Japan show I don't look forward to, but 3/8 was one of them, as it didn't seem very appealing on paper, so my expectations weren't as high as usual. The opener was a good start though, pitting the gaijin team of American Dragon & Stampede Kid against Sammy & Taguchi. This was a cool match, with the North American Connection looking really good, and Samurai also looking good as usual. Although he couldn't be expected to wrestle up to the level of the others due to his experience, Taguchi did his best and threw a couple of his great dropkicks. Samurai spent a lot of time in there from the 6 or so minutes shown, and has been in good form lately. Dragon, who again wrestled a slick and refined Benoit-esque style, won the match with a cobra clutch crossface hold. The second match rocked! Seriously! The second match of Kengo's countdown saw him team with fellow Muga lover, Nishimura, against Hiro & Goto. This was not what we've come to expect from Hiro & Goto, which is quick brawls, but rather a largely ground-based match until later on. It was so old school, and when Goto did Nishimura's headstand while in a headscissors hold, I lost it. Nishimura (on the apron) couldn't help but smile either. After cool technical wrestling, it became more of Hiro & Goto's regular match with strikes, corner attacks, and some outside action. Finish saw Nishimura trap Hiro in a Cobra Twist, then after Kengo hit the crowd-pleasing Inazuma leg lariat on Goto, Nishimura cradled Hiro for the win. Fun match! The third bout was one I was looking forward to, the U-30 clash before Blue Wolf and Yano. This was almost 10 minutes, which was longer than their normal fare. How did they handle it? Well, I'm pretty amazed, because we saw a totally new side of Wolf. I mean, he does use submissions in matches, but he was a lot more technical here in attacking one of Yano's legs. He used some awesome submissions, including something of a standing figure-four achilles tendon hold. Yano fought back, and looked like the well developing rookie that he is. He was all fired up, and ran off the rope, into a BRUTAL-BRUTAL-BRUTAL lariat from Wolf. There was such strength behind it, and Wolf didn't even budge after throwing such a wild strike. Such strength! He won immediately after with a Mongol slam, ending a really good match between the two young lions. Wolf just keeps getting better and better, he's awesome, and already has the aura of someone well past the young lion stage. The show was going better than I expected, and Yoshie & Iizuka vs. Harimao'z just added to the fun factor. This match took place a day before Iizuka and Makai #5's first singles match since the infamous incident back on 6/6/01. Iizuka didn't wait for announcements, and just attacked the masked Nagai. Iizuka again ended up on his back for much of the match, taking a beating. Harimao'z were so vicious, and Nagai's kicks lurked precariously close to Iizuka's chin (where he was struck when he suffered the brain injury). Iizuka eventually tagged out, and Yoshie took names. Iizuka and Nagai fought to the outside, and Yoshie killed Makai #4 with a back blow for the pretty routine win. Good match that added even more intensity to the Iizuka vs. Nagai feud. The junior match was exactly what you'd expect, this was the safest bet for a good match, and delivered. Close to 14 minutes of non-stop action. The Kanemoto & Liger army were punks, with EEEVIL Liger again throwing a blatent kick to the groin. Jado & Gedo looked so much better in this environment than they were in the 17 minute tag match at Korakuen on 3/7. Gedo especially looked good, and had a cool sequence with Tiger Mask. The focus was often on Kanemoto vs. AKIRA, with their match coming up, and this was the prelude to their classic. Other than that, mostly the standard, reliable junior action that highlights every show. Finish was a cool turn-around when Kakihara had an ankle hold on Kanemoto, but made the mistake of standing up with it, allowing Kanemoto to slide under and apply his own for the tap out. Two short matches were next, one featuring the IWGP Heavyweight Champion and the other featuring the NWF Heavyweight Champion. Nagata vs. Devine was kind of disappointing, because Devine controlled more than a midcarder should against the top dog. Having said that, Nagata never seemed in too much trouble, and won very quickly after a few moves. His Nagata Lock III is the best Nagata Lock yet I think, looks like it hurts so much. Takayama vs. Makai #1 was different, because it had the Makai Club involved, and Yasuda was getting mad heat at ringside from the quiet crowd. The Club interfered, and it backfired when Yasuda hit Makai #1 by accident, then took an Everest German suplex from Takayama. Takayama finished Super Strong Makai off, and that was it. Easy wins for both champs. Nakanishi & Tanahashi vs. Norton & Makabe was probably the best heavyweight match of the night. All four men worked hard, the natives more than Norton, but Norton at least did his part. The three natives looked good, and I enjoy watching Makabe more by the day, he is really starting to get used to his new bulk, and has tons of charisma. Tanahashi spent a lot of the match taking a beating from Makabe, further making him the underdog against his young rival (which would perfectly set up their U-30 final in April). There were constant screams from girls in the crowd for Tanahashi, and he showed a ton of fighting spirit. The finish was really good, with Tanahashi pushing Norton and getting him off his feet for a two count. He ran into a gut kick though, was powerbombed, and that was it. One day after their big win over Nagata & Wolf, the new team Nakanishi & Tanahashi were beaten. Before the main event, the latest "New Japan wrestler gets married, Toru Yano steals the show" segment was shown. It's become a tradition for Yano (who is the most stoic wrestler, but is totally different out of the ring) to make a fool out of himself at weddings, Tanaka and Nagata's being examples. After his great performance on 2/16, where he went all out and risked crippling himself, Hiroyoshi Tenzan was married. There weren't many non-New Japan guys there, largely because some groups were running shows on the same day (including All Japan, meaning his eternal friend Kojima couldn't be there). There was an Inoki impersonator in attendance, and although he looked nothing like Inoki, he had the mannerisms and catchphrases down perfectly. He even gave Tenzan the famous TOUKON BINTA! But, again, it was Yano who stole the show. Yano, who looked drunk out of his mind (and swigged down wine from a bottle at one point), got up and stripped off his suit... revealing a wetsuit. He grabbed the microphone and started singing J-Pop with some girls and dancing. Nise Inoki slapped him, and he fell down, before giving a drunken interview. Kanemoto also looked a little tipsy, but stayed in his seat. Heat (Minoru Tanaka) was there unmasked with his wife Yumi Fukawa, and also Blue Wolf's famous brother and sumo star, Asashoryu (Blue Dragon), was shown. Tenzan and his wife even did a little karaoke. The main event seemed like a regular NJ vs. Makai Club match, but they linked this match intelligently to happenings on 3/6 by showing video packages of Ohara taunting Hoshino. Hence, Ohara teamed up with his old Team 2000 buddies, Chono & Tenzan, against the three top men in the Makai Club. This was the most heated match of the night, especially whenever Yasuda did something questionable. Hoshino even got involved, taking off his jacket and going for Ohara. The responses Chono got showed just how big the gap is between his popularity and that of any other New Japan wrestler. This was short enough to not drag on, lasting a shade under 11 1/2 minutes, and mainly seeing the six go through their signature moves. Chono survived a triple corner attack, and jumping knee kick from Yanagisawa, before fighting back with help from his friends and sinking Yanagisawa with a Yakuza kick. This show was much better than I expected overall. Even with a really dead crowd for most matches, the wrestlers worked hard and put on good matches that developed feuds or just gave fighters short warm-up matches for bigger ones the next day in Nagoya (Nagata and Takayama, who both had title matches on 3/9). Match of the night has to go to the junior eight man tag, then Nakanishi & Tanahashi vs. Norton & Makabe, followed closely by Wolf vs. Yano.
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