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NJPW, 3/22/03 (NJ+IWTV Internet)
Hamamatsu City Gymnasium 2,400 Fans
1. Toru Yano & Ryusuke Taguchi beat Blue Wolf & Naofumi Yamamoto (9:22) when Yano used a Canadian backbreaker on Yamamoto.
I finally got chance to see a New Japan internet taping, thanks to a new outlet for them on tapes. Trent Walters at japantapes.com has found a way to convert these online events to tapes seamlessly. To test the quality, I watched this show on a wide screen TV, and found myself at times forgetting that it was off a computer! The only reminders are the occasional glimpses of "streaming" style output, but if you find an internet taping that appeals to you, don't worry about VQ, because it's great. Also, the sound quality is excellent. There are no commentators for these shows, and you can hear the crowds a lot clearer than on usual TV broadcasts. So if you are after internet tapings like this one, visit japantapes.com for great deals. New Japan house shows are a foreign entity to myself and many people. The only real glimpses we get is rare clippage on the 60 minute version of WPW, or footage on commercial DVDs. This one took place in Hamamatsu and acted as a bridge between the big 3/21 and 3/23 outings. Wolf & Yamamoto vs. Yano & Taguchi was the opener, four young lions locking horns. Lots of back and forth action, with Wolf clearly the peer. So when Yamamoto tapped out to Yano's Canadian backbreaker, it was a big win for Yano & Taguchi as they had indirectly beaten the much stronger Blue Wolf. Heat & American Dragon vs. Jado & Gedo was a very good match, with tons of heat - both the wrestler and crowd response. This set the tone for the crowd response on the evening, a level of heat that blew me away by the time the show was over. Good back and forth action, with Heat and Gedo starring. They had a really great cradle exchange later on, repeated roll-ups as both looked for the quick victory. Heat finished Gedo off with his version of the Fisherman buster, ending another good junior match on a tour full of them. Yet the best was yet to come from the juniors on the day. Now as good as the first junior tag was, Kanemoto & Liger vs. AKIRA & Stampede Kid blew it away. This was amazing, almost top ten material for the year so far, despite being on a house show! By the time Hidekazu Tanaka said "five minutes passed", it felt like they had already wrestled a full match! And then they kept going, with great moves, great sequences, and massive heat. No one held back, this was all-out from all four wrestlers, and the results were quite spectacular. This was the last chance to build up Kanemoto vs. AKIRA for 3/23, and they showed the magic together that would pay off the next day. This had great performances all along, but the double countout finish, which saw Kanemoto and AKIRA roll over the rail while brawling, disappointed everyone. Fans chanted in unison for a restart, and the teams agreed! The race to the finish was on, and that didn't take long, as a couple of minutes later, Koji submitted TJ. SWEET match, worth the tape alone. This was vintage junior action, with monster heat for almost everything. Tanahashi (on 3 points) faced Devine (on 4 points) in Block A of the U-30, and badly needed a win to qualify for the semi final round. Good see-saw action for a lot of the match, before Devine neutralized Tanahashi for a while, starting the TANAHASHI TOUKON COMEBACK OF JOUKAI! that the fans dug. After more good action, Tanahashi spiked Devine with a beautiful Dragon suplex hold and advanced to the semi finals to face Yoshie! Next up was New Japan vs. Makai, with Nagata, Iizuka & Ohara vs. Yanagisawa, Makai #4 & Makai #5. Again, major, MONSTER heat, this was probably the second most heated bout of the night. Fans were into everything, and the action was really fast paced, never slowing. One of the better "wrestling" matches from the New Japan vs. Makai feud too, with everyone working hard. Ohara was so much fun when he was tagged and went crazy with jumping neckbreaker drops. I hope he signs a contract next January and returns to the company full-time, he's a solid addition to the undercard (and is a New Japan trueborn). Nagata wrapped Makai #4 and the match up with his Nagata Lock III, ending a wildly entertaining fight. Then came the biggest shocker of the night. Chono & Kengo vs. Yasuda & Makai #1 in one of Kimura's last matches. Well, I appreciate the nostalgia aspect of Kengo's retirement countdown, but don't expect very good matches. But what I got here was a DAMN GOOD match. Or maybe I'm a sucker for heat (well yep, I am), because the building was going APES for this one. Everything, EVERYTHING, got a response. Yasuda was treated like the captain of a rival sports team, just pure, absolute hatred. He soaked it in and added to it by constantly stepping out of the ring, kicking the rail, and stalling early on. The match was quite short, and was so entertaining, I was into it all the way. Everyone knew when the finish was coming, as Chono threw Super Strong Makai into an Inazuma leg lariat, and Kengo covered for the win! Chono ordered Kengo to celebrate after the match, and the Master of Inazuma went up every turnbuckle, getting a hero's farewell from the fans of Hamamatsu. Super fun match, better than you could ever dream of it being. The main event was Shinnichi vs. America & Makabe, similar to the one from the night before in theme. Only this was way better, partially because of the crowd going nuts, partially because Makabe was in there and working for his wage. There was some old school tomfoolery early on, when Steiner and Nakanishi decided to have a popularity contest. Steiner went up the turnbuckles, "BOOOO!". Nakanishi went up the turnbuckles, "YAAAY!". An angry Steiner called Norton in to have a try. Norton went up, "BOOOO!". In came Tenzan, "YAAAAAAY! TENZAN! TENZAN! TENZAN!". This was a total power fighting match, because, well, everyone involved is a power fighter (maybe not Rick... I don't know what to call him anymore). The finish was really cool, too. Norton countered a union something-or-other from Tenzan and Nakanishi, and shoulder tackled them down. Yoshie got overly ambitious, jumping up at Norton as if for a huracanrana(!!!), but Norton countered that with a brutal powerbomb for the three count. There were sparks between Tenzan and the opposition after the match, but nothing too notable, as they left without further fighting. Wow! This show was great, better than the much more important 3/21 SXW taping, even if it didn't have a Liger & Murahama vs. Gamma & BKK (though Kanemoto & Liger vs. AKIRA & Stampede wasn't far off!). New Japan should consider the buildings it uses to tape shows, and think about making it's "hot" buildings like this into more notable tapings. There is a somewhat new myth going around that all New Japan events don't get any crowd heat. Well, in general, they get less heat than they used to, but the same can be said for most companies except for Toryumon Japan, ZERO-ONE, and Osaka Pro. But every company has strong territories, and Hamamatsu is certainly one of New Japan's (although nothing, not even Osaka or Hamamatsu, can compare to the MADNESS that is New Japan's Okinawa fanbase), yet this was only an internet show. The heat for this show was off the charts, more than almost any I've heard from any company in the last two years. Other than the rookies, who themselves got claps, EVERY match was cheered and enjoyed. Those that may have lacked technique were fueled by life from the maniacs in attendance, so everything felt wholesome and worthwhile. And another myth may be that wrestlers are lazy at house shows. If this is a typical representation of a house show, that comment couldn't possibly be further from the truth.
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