WCW / NJPW SuperShow (March 1991)

The SuperShow was an interesting cross promotional, east-meets-west event held in Japan by WCW and New Japan in March 1991 – though it wouldn’t air in North America until the next month, and in edited form. It took place in front of over 60,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome, and was actually promoted as ‘Starrcade’ in Japan. I’m covering it today as an introduction to the upcoming SuperBrawl series, as this card is the catalyst for the main event of the first SuperBrawl.

From Tokyo, Japan; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone in North America – though my copy is the full Japanese version of the show, with Japanese announcers.


Opening Eight-Man Tag Team Match: Animal Hamaguchi, Kengo Kimura, Osamu Kido, and Kantaro Hoshino v Super Strong Machine, Hiro Saito, Tatsutoshi Gato, and Norio Honaga: Big brawl to start – though all the announcing is in Japanese (including the ring introductions), which leaves me unsure of exactly who is who. I'll recap it this way: One team works over the other in the early going (using mostly punchy-kicky stuff), and dominates the bulk of the match that way - cutting the ring in half. The tide briefly turns when a flying headbutt is misses, but turns back with a cheap shot and a spike piledriver. They go back-and-forth some more, until an eight-way brawl breaks out, with Kimura pinning Goto in the chaos at 12:00. Well paced action, though, not surprisingly, it was cut from the North American version. *

Scott Norton v The Equalizer: They do a power stalemate to start, but Norton quickly takes over with shoulderblocks. Blind charge misses, however, and Equalizer stomps away, but gets caught with another shoulderblock. Norton with a poorly executed powerslam for the pin at 2:23. About what you'd expect from Scott Norton v Dave Sullivan. ¼*

Arn Anderson and Barry Windham v Masa Saito and Masahiro Chono: Windham and Chono start, both cautious to tie-up. Windham initially wins the first lockup, but Chono gets him on the mat with a hammerlock. Both guys tag, and Anderson works an armbar. They try to cut the ring in half, but Windham can't handle him, and Chono tags back in. Slugfest goes Windham's way, and he hits a side suplex for two. DDT, and Anderson tags back in. He heads up top, but Chono slams him off, and hits a flying shoulderblock. STF, but Windham quickly breaks it up. Chono dumps him to the outside, and follows with a tope to neutralize him - but it backfires as Windham dives back in with a flying axehandle to break up an abdominal stretch. Anderson's spinebuster gets two, so he tags Windham in all official-like. Dropkick gets two, but Chono gets the tag off to Saito. A four-way brawl quickly breaks out, and a lariat from Windham allows Arn at get the pin at 9:17. Good back-and-forth pace, but possibly too short, as they spent most of the match doing a feeling out process, which had to transition quickly into the meat of the match due to time constraints. ¾*

IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki v The Steiner Brothers: Hase and Scott Steiner start, and Scott immediately shoots at the leg, trying to tie him up, but getting countered repeatedly. Scott gets sick of him, and hits an overhead suplex, but runs into a spinkick. Clothesline puts Steiner on the outside, so he tags Rick Steiner. He wants Sasaki, though, and gets his wish by getting caught in a side-headlock. Well, I don't think most people ask for that on Christmas morning, but then I'm Jewish, so I could be off. Tag back to Hase, as they try to cut the ring in half, but Rick overpowers him, and tags Scott to suplex him. Scott with a fallaway slam off of the top, but he doesn't bother covering - instead bringing Rick back in to have his fun abusing Hase. The Steiners cut the ring in half with an array of suplexes, giddily laughing as they take poor Hase apart. The Steiners do a fantastic, proper job of cutting the ring in half, but Hase catches both of them with uranage’s, and gets the tag to Sasaki. He's a house of arson, and powerslams Rick. Tag to Hase – who has completely forgotten the heat segment - going right at Steiner with an overhead suplex. Scott tags, and kills him with a tilt-a-whirl powerslam, before finishing Sasaki with the Frankensteiner at 12:56, to win New Japan's Tag Titles. The Steiners worked well here - cutting the ring in half with passion, and unloading a beautiful array of power oriented suplexes. * ½

Vader and Bam Bam Bigelow v Doom: Vader had debuted in WCW not long before this, but was still mostly working in Japan at this point. Doom had actually broken up in February, but apparently no one bothered to tell the Japanese. You'd think they'd be the first to know, time difference, and all. Vader and Butch Reed start, and Reed tries to overpower him, but quickly gets swatted in the corner to stop that effort. Vader with an avalanche, but Reed clotheslines him, and manages a slam. Tag to Simmons, who hits a spinebuster for two, and Bigelow tags in. Bam Bam with an enzuigiri, and a hanging vertical suplex. He and Vader take turns hitting avalanches, but Bigelow's flying headbutt misses. He no-sells it, however, and takes out both guys with clotheslines. A Doom double team puts Bam Bam on the outside, and Simmons gives him a slam before taking him back inside. Doom cut the ring in half with more slams, and a Reed 2^nd rope flying elbowdrop gets two. Double team allows Vader to get the tag, but Simmons catches him with a powerslam for two. Doom double suplex draws Bigelow in to take out Simmons, and Reed misses a flying shoulderblock to allow Vader to splash him for the pin at 13:17. Technically fine, but unengaging. ¾* Vader and Bigelow would have been an insanely awesome team in the States, but unfortunately, they never really crossed paths in either of the big two.

Tiger Jeet Singh v Riki Choshu: Choshu tries to jump him on the floor, but Singh uses a sword (!) to fend him off, and removes the turnbuckle pads inside the ring. He chokes away, and Choshu blades off of a shot to the exposed buckle. They spill to the outside, allowing Riki to post him - drawing blood – and he attacks him with the sword. Singh gets a nail to stop that effort, and applies a clawhold with it - jamming it into Choshu's forehead. Riki wrestles it away from him, exacting some revenge, but Singh starts trying to bite his ear off to end that conversation. Choshu with a pair of enzuigiri’s, and a ram into one of the exposed buckles allows him to lock on an armbreaker for the victory at 11:07. Just a gore fest. ½*

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Brian Pillman, Tim Horner, and Tom Zenk v Shiro Koshinaka, Kuniaki Kobayashi, and Takayuki Iizuka: As with the opener, I can't understand the ring intros, and these happen to be guys I'm not familiar with enough to know casually. Zenk starts, and gets dominated with spinkicks, so he bails to Horner. He has some better luck, unloading with a series of dropkicks, but gets caught in the wrong part of town. Pillman gives it a go, but suffers the same fate. He manages a springboard bodypress to take over, and Zenk follows with an enzuigiri. He tries an armbar, but gets dragged across the ring while applying the hold, and a tag is made. He keeps control with help from Horner, and Pillman hits a jumping clothesline for two. Horner with a well executed sidewalk slam for two, as they cut the ring in half. Pillman and Zenk stupidly do a double dropkick spot, putting him right in his home corner for a tag, but they recover nicely with a spinebuster/dropkick combo on Shiro. Pillman with a flying bodypress to the outside, and they cut the ring in half. Pillman springboard splash gets two, and Horner hits one of his own for two. Zenk with a piledriver for two, and they start to get frustrated, leading to Pillman getting caught with a series of dropkicks from Shiro. Six-way brawl breaks out, and Koshinaka pins Horner with a Dragon suplex at 12:10. No attempt at psychology made, but really fast paced tag action - filled with quick tags, and well executed offense from everybody. ** ½

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Liger v Akira Nogami: Liger charges him with his title belt still on, knocking him to the outside, and fazing him. Inside, Liger quickly jumps him with a sleeper, but Nogami makes the ropes. Undeterred, Liger locks on a surfboard, but Akira gets him in an armbar. Liger responds with a vicious bow-and-arrow, but Nogami gets him in a camel clutch. He won't quit, so Nogami starts going nuts, dropping a series of swift legdrops on him, and going back to the arm. Liger still won't quit, so Nogami drops him with a side suplex. Blind charge, but Liger backdrops him to the floor, and follows with a plancha - only to get nailed with a dropkick on the way down. Inside, Nogami works the leg Liger hurt during the dive, hooking a figure four. Liger manages to reverse his way into the ropes, but the damage is done, and Nogami keeps at it. Liger tries to dropkick Nogami's knee to stop the effort, but Nogami holds on to the leg like a dog to his last bone, relentlessly attacking. Liger throws a somersault kick to comeback, but Nogami counters a top rope rana by shoving him off. Nogami with a sunset flip for two, and he grabs the arm to take him down for another two count. German suplex gets two, but Liger reverses a victory roll. He tries a tombstone, but the knee gives out, and Nogami dives right back on it. Series of dropkicks, but another flying splash misses, and Liger awkwardly powerbombs him. Second try hits a proper Ligerbomb (a sitout powerbomb) - but it only gets two. That only serves to piss the champ off, and he finishes with a gorgeous DDT off of the top rope at 16:08. It doesn’t hold up quite as well today, but this was light years ahead of where North America was twenty years ago, with their silly Lightweight divisions spearheaded by guys like Mike Graham. *** ¼

El Gigante v Big Cat Hughes: Gigante throws him around to start, easily slamming the sizeable Hughes like a child. Big Cat tries to go to the eyes to comeback, but Gigante shrugs him off, and casually suplexes him - taking his time to play to the large crowd. Clawhold finishes at 2:16. Just a squash, though not an engaging one, as Gigante seemed to be a bit too taken by the size of the crowd, staring out into it instead of actually wrestling. DUD

Sting v The Great Muta: Muta jumps Sting right at the bell with chops, and quickly hits a handspring elbow. Flying moonsault misses, but an enzuigiri (the official winner of Most Popular Spot tonight) doesn't, and he dives out to the floor after the Stinger. Flying axehandle, but Sting nails him on the way down, and press slams him to the floor. He dives out after him, and inside hooks a front-facelock, but Muta gets him in a standing side-headlock. Criss cross sees Sting nearly launch him to the top of the Dome with a monkey flip, and he goes right back to the front-facelock. Muta rakes the eyes to escape, but a roundhouse kick misses, and Sting bulldogs him. He bails to the outside, but Sting won't let him breath, slamming him onto the rail. Inside, he tries for the Scorpion Deathlock, but Muta dives for the ropes. He catches Sting with an elbow, and hooks a chinlock. Second handspring elbow misses, allowing Sting the Stinger Splash, but Muta manages to dodge. Backbreaker, but the flying moonsault nails knees. Sting with another press slam, but Muta rakes the eyes to topple him for two. Backbreaker sets up another flying moonsault attempt - but this time Sting crotches him up top, and hits a side superplex for two. Sting flying elbowdrop misses, and they both try a dropkick at the same time, leading to a double knockout. Sting with a backslide for two, and he tries a slam, but gets cradled for two. Sting retains control, though, getting him in the Deathlock, but Muta manages to make the ropes again. He bails to regroup, but once more, Sting is right on him - dragging him back in. Stinger Splash, but Muta sprays mist in his eyes on the way, and catches him with a springboard bodypress for the pin at 11:41. Excellent back-and-forth battle – building on their feud in 1989 – as both guys knew each other well, and had counters to counters. *** ¼

Main Event: NWA World Title v IWGP World Title Match: Ric Flair v Tatsumi Fujinami: Flair was both NWA and WCW World Champion at this point (they were unified, and both represented by the 'Big Gold Belt'), as WCW had broken away from the NWA at the start of 1991, and created their own World Title. Big staredown to start, and Fujinami wins the initial lockup with a standing side-headlock. Flair sizes him up, and grabs his own (headlock, not dick), but Fujinami side suplexes him to escape. He gets Flair in a Dragon sleeper, but Ric makes the ropes. Slugfest goes Fujinami's way, and he dropkicks Flair to the outside. Flair works the count to regroup, and tries to sucker Fujinami on his way back in, but gets caught in a mat-based side-headlock. Flair with a side suplex to escape, and he finally manages to sucker him into the test-of-strength. Flair targets the knee, but Fujinami stops the effort by hooking him into a Sharpshooter. Flair won't submit, however, so Fujinami locks him into an STF. Still no go, so he tries a chinlock (kinda going in the wrong order there, but maybe that's how it goes in Japan),  but shockingly a chinlock isn't enough to beat Ric Flair, and he hits an inverted atomic drop. Flair goes up top, so Fujinami heads over to slam him off, but Flair rakes the eyes, and takes him to the floor. He runs him into the rail out there, but Fujinami is a house of arson coming back in. Backdrop, but Flair catches him with a swinging neckbreaker for two. Shindrop gets two, and a butterfly suplex for two. Hanging vertical suplex, and another shindrop for two. He fires off with chops, but Fujinami responds in kind, and slams Flair off of the top rope. Flair Flips to the outside, but Fujinami chases, ramming him into the rail, and drawing blood. Inside, Fujinami with a ten-punch count (I guess that one's universal), and Flair Flops. Enzuigiri gets two, and Flair begs off, but gets backdropped anyway. Flair desperately tries to chop him again, but Fujinami keeps firing back, knocking the Nature Boy to the mat. Flair Flips again - this time into a tree of woe - but blows Fujinami low to come back. Suplex, but Fujinami rolls him up for two. Headlock, but Fujinami side suplexes him for two. The referee gets bumped on a blind charge, and a Fujinami backslide gets no count. Inside cradle, but still no referee. Fujinami backdrops him to the floor, and suplexes him back in as a second referee runs out. Fujinami with a Cobra cradle for the pin at 23:06, winning the NWA (but not WCW) Title, as in Japan they weren't recognized as unified, and thus officially starting the first of many confusing title lineage situations. They would have a rematch for the title at SuperBrawl, where Flair would reunify the WCW and NWA Titles. WCW had to find a reason to explain to American audiences why Fujinami didn't win the WCW Title as well, and 'they don't think ours in worth shit' wouldn't really cut it, so they came up with Fujinami not being 'awarded' the WCW Title based on tossing Flair over-the-top - which is a disqualification under WCW rules. Match was suitably epic for a big east-meets-west Dome main event, but far from a masterpiece – as it was fairly repetitive, and failed to capitalize on all stuff both guys were working on earlier in the bout, rendering the psychology pointless. ** ½

BUExperience: Overall solid card - with nothing actively bad - and well booked, with the poorer workers limited to quick squashes. Still, a lot gets lost in translation here (you practically expect Bill Murray to referee at some points), and it’s really not a must-see for casual American fans, unless you want a companion piece to the first SuperBrawl. *