WAR Super J Cup (December 1995)

Original Airdate: December 13, 1995

From Tokyo, Japan

Opening First Round Match: Damian 666 v Gran Naniwa: Both of these guys are freaky looking motherfuckers. Damian stalls at the bell, threatening to walk out, and prompting Gran to mock him in hilarious fashion. Down to business, Damian hits a clothesline during a criss cross to setup a sharpshooter, but Gran is quickly in the ropes. Damian responds by unloading with chops in the corner, and a series of kicks to the head get two. A pair of hip attacks and a snapmare get two, and Damian grounds him in a chinlock. Headscissor takedown and a ropewalk armdrag (with Damian walking all the way from one corner to the other - which is cool, albeit a bit hard to suspend disbelief for) sends Gran to the outside, and Damian dives after him with a tope. Gran comes back in with a slingshot sunset flip for two, but Damian blocks a monkeyflip, so Gran hits a 2^nd rope flying bulldog instead. They slug it out, and Naniwa backdrops him over the top, then dives after him with a flying bodypress on the outside. Back in, Damian manages a bodyslam to setup a flying moonsault, but Gran moves, and pops off a rana into a cradle to advance at 6:36. Good opener, though a little heavy on the goofiness for my tastes. ** ½

First Round Match: Shinjiro Otani v Masaaki Mochizuki: Mochizuki blitzes him with a spinheel kick right at the bell, and he unloads with more kicks in the corner. Another kick combo ends up Otani down in a grapevine, but he quickly counter to a kneebar, and Mochizuki needs the ropes. That results in a slugfest that Otani wins with a spinkick, and he starts working the leg to take that weapon away from Mochizuki. Another kneebar, but Mochizuki gets the ropes, and manages a bridging German suplex for two upon escaping. He throws some more kicks, but gets trapped in a fujiwara armbar, and nearly submits before getting the ropes. He throws another spinheel kick and a springboard kick for two, so Otani dropkicks the knee, then hits a springboard missile version to the knee to setup a grapevine at 4:02. Good stuff, working a much more realistic style than the opener, and lots of psychology with the experienced Otani overcoming the brash Mochizuki. ***

First Round Match: Shoichi Funaki v Ultimo Dragon: Funaki wants a feeling out process, but Dragon quickly starts flying around, so Funaki surprises him with a victory cradle for two, then hangs onto it with a kneebar. Dragon bails, so Funaki dives after him with a plancha, and dropkicks his knee on the way back in to setup a grapevine. Dragon tries escaping, but Funaki shifts to a kneebar, so Dragon shifts his weight to turn it into a cradle, and Funaki is forced to break. Dragon goes for a cross-armbreaker, but Funaki counters with another grapevine, and they fight over that for a bit. Funaki keeps destroying the leg, but an attempt to go vertical ends badly when Dragon hits a (sloppy) rana, then adds a springboard moonsault press for two. Funaki wisely shoots for the leg again to slow him down, and he manages a side suplex for two. Muscle buster gets two, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and Dragon hits his own muscle buster, then brings him off the top with a rana. DDT sets up a flying moonsault, and a magistral cradle finishes at 6:52. Not really my cup of tea (all the leg work amounted to nothing), but well worked. **

First Round Match: Gedo v Masayoshi Motegi: Feeling out process to start, and Motegi manages a belly-to-belly suplex before dropkicking Gedo to the outside for a tope. Motegi sends him into the post a couple of times to hurt the arm, and inside, he works on it. He looks for a submission with a cross-armbreaker, but Gedo goes to the eyes to escape, and unloads a few overhead elbowsmashes. Pair of headbutts annoy Motegi, and he strikes at the arm again to slow Gedo down, then throws a dropkick at it in the corner. Hammerlock, but Gedo reverses, so Motegi snapmares free, and hiptosses him for two. Headscissors takedown sends Gedo to the floor, so Motegi dives with a plancha, then vertical suplexes him back in. Motegi with a flying dropkick for two, and a brainbuster is worth two. Cross corner charge misses, however, and Gedo capitalizes with a 2^nd rope missile dropkick - only to miss a flying headbutt! That allows Motegi to unload a three-alarm rolling German suplex for two, and a poorly executed tombstone sets up his own flying headbutt - which Gedo dodges. Motegi basically no-sells it though, and tries a rana, but Gedo counters with a powerbomb, and a double-chickenwing gets a submission at 6:56. This was getting quite good towards the end. ** ¾

First Round Match: Dos Caras v El Samurai: Samurai looks like he might have been the inspiration for Kwang, and Caras is Alberto Del Rio's dad. Not sure which is the worse thing to be responsible to humanity for. Feeling out process to start, and Caras hits a jumping double-ax and a twisting splash for two, then ties Samurai up in the Caras-Clutch on the mat. Samurai escapes and hits a vertical suplex for two, so Caras takes him down in the Clutch, but Samurai has the ropes. Caras responds with a surfboard, but Samurai has the ropes again, and ends up on the outside for a breather. Back in, Samurai manages to overpower Caras a bit, but runs into another double-ax, and Caras dropkicks him to the outside to setup a tope! In, Caras applies the Clutch again, but Samurai escapes, and hits a legdrop. An ugly piledriver gets two, but Caras counters a backdrop with a backslide for two, and cradles him for two. Samurai with a shoulder-powerbomb for two, and a corner dropkick sets up a rana off the top for two. Samurai with a bodyslam to setup a flying headbutt, but Caras moves (not a lot of luck with that move tonight), and hits a flying bodypress to advance at 7:00. Good stuff here. ***

First Round Match: Lionheart v Hanzo Nakajima: Lionheart is Chris Jericho. Hanzo wants a handshake to start, but Lionheart flips him off, so you know this is going to be a fun one. Reversal sequence to start, and Lionheart controls. He delivers a hanging vertical suplex, but gets cocky, and Hanzo is able to unload some kicks to take Lionheart down for a leglock. Lionheart gets the ropes and hits Hanzo with a cross corner clothesline, so Hanzo responds with a hiptoss and a somersault senton splash for two. Springboard moonsault press gets two, and a handstand headscissors follows, so Lionheart levels him with a clothesline for two. Lionheart with a spinkick for two, so Hanzo throws a rana for two, then sends Lionheart over the top with lightning kicks. Hanzo follows with a baseball slide and a tope (popular dive tonight), but Lionheart beats the count, so Hanzo snap suplexes him. He goes up, but Lionheart follows for what looks like a superplex, but instead decides to knock him to the floor with a sweet standing dropkick off the damned TOP TURNBUCKLE! That was wild, and unique. I don't think I've ever seen Jericho do that one in the states. Lionheart follows with a springboard bodypress on the floor, but Hanzo manages a cradle for two on the way back in, and a flying bodypress - only for Lionheart to roll through for two. Lionheart with a muscle buster to setup the Lionsault, and we're out at 6:48. Really spotty, but good. ***

Quarterfinal Match: Jushin Thunder Liger v Gran Naniwa: Liger received a bye to the second round. Naniwa is unimpressed, however, blitzing Liger with a running dropkick to crotch him on the top rope during the entrances, then bringing him down with a rana. A stunned Liger bails, so Naniwa dives after him with a flying bodypress, then brings him in for a missile dropkick to the back of the head! Gutwrench powerbomb gets two, and Naniwa applies a modified abdominal stretch, but Liger gets the ropes. Naniwa responds with a backbreaker to setup a ropewalk elbowdrop, but he takes too long setting it up, and Liger rolls out of the way. Serves him right. This isn't Damian, show some respect, fucker. Naniwa dodges a clothesline and hooks a rana into a cradle for two, but a second try gets him powerbombed, and Liger mocks him. Liger with a release German suplex to setup a dragon surfboard, but Gran escapes, and applies his own version! That doesn't get the submission, so Naniwa tries a double-chickenwing, but Liger counters into a rocking horse, then shifts into a camel clutch! Dragons, chickens, horses, camels - PETA must be having a nightmare! Naniwa escapes and delivers a nice cross corner clothesline and a DDT for two, then grounds Liger with a headscissors, but Jushin escapes. He snapmares Gran over for a chinlock, but Naniwa escapes, and dropkicks him to the outside to setup a somersault bodyblock off the apron. That dropkick was super sloppy, and barely made contact. In, Naniwa hits a front-powerslam to setup a flying splash for two. Lucky for him he didn't try a headbutt. Rana off the top gets two, and a spinning gutwrench powerbomb is worth two. Again, but Liger counters with the koppou kick, then hits a cross corner version. Flying elbowdrop gets two, and Liger tries a powerbomb, but gets countered with a rana into a cradle for two. Naniwa tries following up, but quickly eats a muscle buster at 9:13. That's another popular move tonight. Some sloppy spots, but eighteen year old Naniwa held his own with the veteran here. *** ¼

Quarterfinal Match: Lionheart v Wild Pegasus: Pegasus (Chris Benoit) also received a bye. Feeling out process to start, and Lionheart manages a hanging vertical suplex for two, then grounds Pegasus in a chinlock. Bodyslam and a slingshot twisting splash get two, but Pegasus escapes another chinlock with a side suplex, and he adds a snap suplex for two. Clothesline gets two, and Pegasus delivers a backbreaker, which he holds on into a submission. That doesn't go anywhere, so he tries an elevated crab, but Lionheart won't quit. Pegasus tries a dropkick, but Lionheart dodges, and capitalizes with a senton splash for two. Clothesline and a cross corner dropkick leads to some chops, but Pegasus short-clotheslines his way out of the corner, and dodges a springboard moonsault press. Pegasus drops Lionheart front-first across the top rope, but a vertical suplex is blocked, and Lionheart throws a spinkick, then dumps him front-first across the top to setup a springboard dropkick. That puts Pegasus on the outside, and Lionheart dives after him with a springboard moonsault press. Hey, at least it wasn't another tope. Lionheart tries to side superplex him back in, but Pegasus counters into a bodyblock for two, then powerbombs him for two. They fight over a German suplex, and a reversal sequence ends in Pegasus hitting a bridging dragon suplex for two. Crisp bodyslam sets up the flying headbutt, but Lionheart dodges, and covers for two. Clearly Benoit hadn't watched the first round matches, or he'd know better than to try that. Lionheart with a powerbomb of his own for two, but a vertical suplex ends up getting countered with a side suplex over the top! Pegasus follows with a tope (you knew one was coming, there's a quota), but Lionheart beats the count in. Pegasus tries to punish him with a powerbomb, but Lionheart counters with a sloppy tiger suplex for two. The suplex itself was fine, but they messed up the bridge. Muscle buster sets up the Lionsault, but Pegasus moves, so Lionheart quickly hooks a rana into a cradle for two. Spinkick sets up another Lionsault, and this one hits! Bridging cradle gets two, so a frustrated Lionheart tries a superplex to finish him off, but Pegasus counters with a front-powerslam off the top to advance at 13:43. I think that finish was meant to be a tombstone, but it didn't quite work out that way. A few stutter steps, but otherwise awesome. *** ¾

Quarterfinal Match: Shinjiro Otani v Ultimo Dragon: Both guys try (and miss) spinkicks at the bell, and a criss cross ends in Otani on the outside, but Dragon misses a plancha, and Otani blasts him with a missile dropkick off the apron! He then dives onto Dragon with a springboard bodypress, and a springboard spinheel kick on the way back in follows. Bodyslam, but Dragon springboard dropkicks him to the outside before he can follow-up, and he dives after him with a springboard moonsault press! Japanese fans are so reserved compared to Americans... here they are moonsaulting literally into their laps, and they just kind of sit there. I imagine that when a lot of these guys went to places like Philly, it must have blown their minds. Inside, Dragon delivers a clothesline for two, and he grounds Otani in a headscissors. Otani counters with a reverse chinlock, but Dragon counters to a front-facelock, then shifts into a cradle for two. Otani escapes into a cross-armbreaker, but Dragon quickly counters with a grapevine, so Otani shifts the weight to a vertical base. Otani throws a dropkick for two, and snapmares Dragon over for a chinlock. They continue to trade reversals on the mat, with Otani dominating, until Dragon pops off a cross corner clothesline, then applies a camel clutch. Vertical suplex, but Otani reverses for two, and adds a spinkick. Tombstone, but Dragon no-sells, and delivers his own - also no-sold. Otani tries again, but Dragon no-sells that as well, and gives Otani another one - no-sold. Otani tries springboarding, but Dragon dropkicks him out of the air for two, and hits a rana off the top for two. Powerbomb, but Otani counters with a rana into a cradle for two, then gives Dragon his own rana off the top - only to have the cradle reversed for two! Springboard missile dropkick misses, however, and Dragon capitalizes with a magistral cradle, but it only gets two! Corner charge doesn't go his way, allowing Otani to hit the springboard missile dropkick, and a crisp bridging dragon suplex gets two! Round two, but this time Dragon grabs the ropes to block, so Otani tries a backdrop, but gets killed with a sitout powerbomb for two. Muscle buster gets two, and both disoriented guys throw simultaneous spinheel kicks - both missing. Dragon recovers first with a slam to setup a corkscrew moonsault, which totally misses but no matter, as Dragon hooks a magistral right after for the pin at 13:30. They did a good job of building drama here, and the bits with the mirrored offense were good, though it also had a lot of flaws, especially in the psychology and in some of the execution. *** ½

Quarterfinal Match: Gedo v Dos Caras: Feeling out process to start, and Caras hooks on a surfboard, then smacks Gedo with a jumping headbutt. Backdrop and a victory roll are shifted into a toehold, but Gedo gets the ropes. Caras responds with a modified figure four, but Gedo almost gets the ropes, so Caras shifts to a sharpshooter instead. Gedo still manages the ropes, so Caras snapmares him over to setup an inverted bow-and-arrow. A belly-to-belly suplex gets two, so Gedo throws a dropkick to the knee to back him off a bit, and he's able to disorient him by going for the mask! Oooh, that's a dick move! Caras manages a jumping double-ax and a dropkick to knock Gedo to the floor for a plancha, and he powerbombs him for two on the way back in. Butterfly backbreaker gets two, and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker sets up a flying bodypress for two. Ten-punch count, but Gedo escapes, and DDTs him to setup a camel cradle at 8:54. Caras and his endless array of unique submissions continue to impress. Too bad he's finished. ** ¾

Semifinal Match: Jushin Thunder Liger v Ultimo Dragon: Dragon's been changing outfits with every match, while Liger hasn't changed his outfit in thirty years. Feeling out process to start, until Dragon escapes a surfboard, and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Liger responds in kind, then snapmares him over for a headscissors, and they trade off on the mat, with Liger dominating. A big criss cross (and I mean BIG) ends in a stalemate, so Liger throws a dropkick at the knee, and he abuses the leg for a while. Release German suplex knocks Dragon loopy for a figure four, but he gets the ropes. Liger drags him back for another leglock, but Dragon counters to a half-crab, then shifts it into the muta-lock. Handspring backelbow sets up a fisherman's suplex for two, and Dragon applies his own figure four, but Jushin escapes. Dragon knocks him to the floor with another handspring backelbow, so Liger hides in the corner to avoid a dive, but Dragon follows with a tope right near the post anyway, then adds a flying somersault bodyblock for good measure! Back in, Dragon powerbombs his ass for two, and a bridging tiger suplex gets two. Abdominal stretch wears Liger down, but a dropkick misses, and Jushin sends him over the top with a slingshot. He follows with a somersault bodyblock off the apron, then brings Dragon in and powerbombs HIS ass for two. Nice mirroring there. Liger with a brainbuster for two, and a tombstone sets up a flying headbutt for two! Well, someone was due to hit one eventually. Dragon responds with a victory roll, but Liger reverses for two, so Dragon bridging northern lights suplexes him for two. Liger drills him with the koppou kick, then tries a muscle buster off the top, but Dragon counters into a magistral cradle for two! Oh, they're letting it all hang out there now! Springboard moonsault press doesn't even warrant a cover as Dragon wants to keep it going with a slam to setup a flying moonsault, but Liger dodges. Ligerbomb gets two, so Dragon makes a last ditch effort with another magistral, but Jushin reverses to advance to the finals at 17:19! Took a while to get going, but man, did business pick up! Great finish too, with Dragon desperately going back to the magistral well that got him to the dance to begin with, and that ultimately costing him the match. **** ¼

Semifinal Match: Gedo v Wild Pegasus: Gedo wants to lockup, but Pegasus wants to simply punch him in the head instead, and then adds a side suplex for two. You mad, bro? A vicious chop sets up a legdrop, and a crisp snap suplex leads to a punishing short-clothesline. Man, Pegasus is just drilling him here. Bodyslam sets up an elevated crab, but Gedo gets the ropes, so Pegasus punishes him with blistering chops. Snapmare sets up a bow-and-arrow, and a bridging German suplex is worth two. Pegasus' execution here has been textbook thus far. STF, and poor Gedo is looking unhappy as fuck. Pegasus gives him something to cry about with a vertical superplex for two, but Gedo reverses another German suplex for two. That can't have been wise. He manages to snapmare Pegasus over for a double-chickenwing, but he escapes, so Gedo sends him to the floor with a 2^nd rope flying rana, then dives after him with (you guessed it) a tope. Pegasus dodges, however, and he vertical suplexes Gedo onto a table, then brings him in for a rana off the top for two! Bridging German suplex gets two, so Pegasus rolls it right into another for two without even releasing! Nuts! Tombstone, but Gedo reverses and goes up for a flying splash, but Pegasus lifts the knees to block, and absolutely MURDERS him with a lariat for two. You have to wonder what Gedo did to piss Benoit off? Pegasus with a powerbomb for two, and a bridging dragon suplex is worth two. Bodyslam sets up the flying headbutt, but Gedo dodges. That was just tempting fate there, Christopher. Pegasus recovers first with another powerbomb, but gets countered with a rana for two. Pegasus keeps coming with a brainbuster, but Gedo manages to reverse, and his own flying headbutt finishes at 9:20. They used every fucking bit of that ten minutes, too. Fantastic match! I get the politics behind Gedo going over, but man, a Pegasus/Liger final would have been incredible. **** ¼

Rey Mysterio Jr v Psychosis: Yes, I'm Americanizing it. Feeling out process to start, and Rey hits a tilt-a-whirl slam, then adds a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker when Psychosis doesn't get the message. Psychosis responds with a cross corner dropkick, and a reversal sequence ends in Rey sending him over the top with a rana, then diving with a springboard somersault seated senton. Inside, Psychosis wins a criss cross by dropkicking the leg, but he runs into a rana, and they slug it out on the apron. Psychosis gets the better of it, but gets monkeyflipped off the apron while charging, and Rey dives with a flying rana on the floor! Wild! Psychosis tries suplexing him back in, but Rey escapes, so Psychosis sends him to the floor with a spinheel kick, then dives with a tope suicida! Rey with a springboard missile dropkick to knock Psychosis to the floor, and he dives with a springboard somersault bodyblock into practically the third row! Rey with a springboard rana into a cradle for two, and a bodypress sends both tumbling over the top, with Mysterio recovering right away with a springboard moonsault press out there. Back in, Psychosis catches him with a powerslam, and a nice powerbomb sets up a flying legdrop, but it only gets two. Another powerbomb sets up a flying corkscrew splash, but Rey dodges, and snaps him off the top rope with a rana, then adds another snap rana to finish at 9:39. A total, complete, and unapologetic spot fest, and a blistering one at that! Non-stop action! *** ¾

Main Event: Super J Cup Final Match: Jushin Thunder Liger v Gedo: They fight over a waistlock to start, and Liger quickly takes him down in a hammerlock as he punishes the arm. Gedo gets the ropes, so Liger baseball slides into the arm, then takes him down again in a fujiwara armbar. Liger continues working the arm, but Gedo doesn't get the message, so Liger tombstones him. Crossface chickenwing, so Gedo goes low with a mulekick, and manages to follow with a superkick to knock Liger to the outside. Gedo follows with a springboard moonsault press, then a powerbomb on the way back in to setup a flying headbutt for two. Note that the only two guys to hit that move tonight made it to the finals. Clearly, the recipe for success is topes and flying headbutts. And muscle busters. Can't forget the muscle busters. Gedo grounds him with a double-chickenwing, but he escapes, and hits Gedo with the koppou kick, then hangs him spread eagled in the corner for another one to the balls! Ouch! Baseball slide knocks Gedo to the outside, and Liger tries diving after him, but gets dropkicked out of the air! Back in, Liger goes for the arm again to try and cutoff this rally, but Gedo wants to criss cross, and it's a double knockout spot. Liger tries a release German suplex, but Gedo back flips out of it, and hooks a rana into a cradle for two - reversed by Liger for two. Gedo with a somersault cradle for two, so Jushin drops him with a muscle buster for two, then Ligerbombs him, but Gedo gets a shoulder up at two! Liger goes up, but misses a flying dropkick, and Gedo plants him with a brainbuster, then immediately hooks a camel cradle for two. Back to the brainbuster, but Liger counters with a DDT for two. He goes up, but Gedo slams him down, then goes up himself - only for Liger to bring him down with a muscle buster off the top for the win at 15:47. I wasn't really feeling this one. I mean, it was good in the general sense, but not on par with either man's semifinal performance, and kind of a lackluster conclusion to an otherwise fabulous tournament. ***

BUExperience: Are you kidding? A must see! If you loved this past summer’s Cruiserweight Classic, this one is right up your alley!

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