Goody Bag XXII: Japanese Garden

 

Bret Hart v George Takano: From the joint WWF/SWS WrestleDream card in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan on April 1 1991. Feeling out process to start, with Hart going to the eyes early on, and tossing Takano over the top. He follows him out for a bodyslam on the floor, then whips him into the guardrail before brining George in for an inverted atomic drop. Heel Bret, yeah baby! Legdrop sets up a chinlock, but a whip into the corner gets reversed, and Takano hits a legdrop of his own. Tombstone gets two, and an enzuigiri is worth two. Takano slaps on a half-crab which he shifts down into an STF, then to an armbar. Just pick something, dude. Takano settles on that armbar, but Hart escapes, so George throws a bodypress for two, and grounds the Hitman in a cravat. Sadly, it's not of the frilly variety. He shifts to a cross-armbreaker when Hart tries to escape, but Bret slugs his way free, and a criss cross ends in the Hitman hitting another inverted atomic drop. Backbreaker follows, and Hart dumps him to the outside again for a pointed elbowdrop off of the apron. He drops Takano across the rail for good measure before bringing things back in with a spinebuster into a Boston crab. He has it well applied, but George manages to power out, so Hart punishes him with a snap suplex for two. Russian legsweep gets two, and a bodyslam sets up a 2^nd rope pointed elbowdrop - only for Takano to dodge for two! He hits Hart with a kick combo to setup a butterfly suplex for two, and an inside cradle is worth two. Vertical suplex gets two, so Bret desperately goes to the eyes, and capitalizes with a side suplex to setup a legdrop. Rollup gets two, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and Takano dropkicks him for two. Spinheel kick sets up a flying splash, and that's it for the Hitman at 11:44. I'll never cease to be impressed by how easily Hart could shift between working as a heel or face. ** ¾

WWF Title Match: Hulk Hogan v Yoshiaki Yatsu: Also from the joint WWF/SWS WrestleDream card in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan on April 1 1991. Feeling out process to start, with Hogan working his usual mat-wrestling stuff that he only does in Japan. I get why he felt he didn't need to do that in North America during the 80s, but once the mid-90s rolled around and the styles were becoming much more technically focused (coupled with fan backlash towards his character), it's odd that he didn't bring more of that out. That could have been an interesting shift for him from 1993 through the heel turn in '96, instead of still doing the old routine from 1985 to increasingly disinterested crowds. Hulk with a side suplex for two, and an inside cradle for two. He holds Yatsu in a front-facelock, but Yatsu slugs free in the corner, and hits an ugly jumping axehandle. Seemed like a miscommunication there, and Hogan looks annoyed. Yatsu unloads a series of chops, and a sloppy bulldog gets two. This is falling apart, and fast. Yatsu hits boot during a cross corner charge, but Hogan misses a clothesline, and Yatsu powerslams him for two. To the top for a flying sidekick, but now Hogan looks legit pissed, and just steamrolls him with the axe bomber at 7:55. They appeared to be having some serious communication issues here. *

Randy Savage and Genichiro Tenryu v Haku and Yoshiaki Yatsu: From a joint WWF/SWS card in Tokyo Japan on June 7 1991. The heels attack Tenryu before Savage makes his entrance, but Randy runs in for the save before it can get too out of hand. That leads to a wild brawl around ringside, until the dust settles on Tenryu and Yatsu to start. Tenryu throws a dropkick and an enzuigiri before passing to Savage for a flying axehandle, but Haku gets the tag before Macho can cut the ring in half. Haku hits Randy with an inverted atomic drop, as the crack camera crew takes a long cut to the announce team in the middle of the sequence. Dropkick gets two, so Savage dumps him to the outside to stop the assault, and makes the tag. Tenryu blasts Haku with a lariat, but his chops are fought off with headbutts, so Savage comes in to whip Tenryu into Haku. That brings Yatsu with an enzuigiri on Tenryu, and he then tags in to DDT him. The heels cut the ring in half on Tenryu, but Tenryu manages to fight Yatsu off long enough for the hot tag to Savage! Macho blitzes both heels with individual flying axehandles on the outside, but gets overwhelmed, and sent into the post to draw blood. Inside, they go to work on the Macho Man, but Randy escapes a double team for the tag to Tenryu, and Roseanne Barr the door! Tenryu throws enzuigiris like they're going out of style, but Haku saves Yatsu from getting pinned by the powerbomb. Tenryu keeps coming with a flying backelbow drop, so Haku clotheslines him, but that brings an irate Savage into the mix. He beats up Yatsu on the outside, so Haku uses the opportunity to hit Tenryu with a flying splash for two, and the heels spike piledrive Macho on the floor! Haku goes back to Tenryu with an odd looking sitout powerbomb for two, but the insolence of the kickout just pisses them off, and a spike piledriver ends Tenryu's night at 19:37. It didn't really engage me as much as it should have, but this was well paced action throughout, with solid heat segments. ** ½

Randy Savage v Jake Roberts: From a WWF house show at Madison Square Garden in New York on January 31 1992. Macho goes right at him with jabs, but Jake rakes the eyes, and tosses his ass over the top. That allows Roberts to stalks Elizabeth on the outside, but Randy attacks with a chair, and bashes him into the post for good measure. Savage with a flying axehandle on the way back in, but Jake knocks him out of the air with a gutpunch, and delivers a kneelift. Inverted atomic drop follows, and Jake pulls him to the outside to return the favor for earlier with a trip to the post. How generous! Back in, Jake pounds him in the corner, but Savage dodges a short-clothesline, and hits a backelbow to setup a flying axehandle. Corner charge hits knee, however, and Jake hits that short-clothesline on the second try. DDT, but Macho holds the ropes to block, and the Flying Elbowdrop finishes at 6:07. Like most of their series from this period, this had lots of intensity, but wasn't the best of matches. But then, I never especially cared for Jake's matches as a heel, as his move set was extremely limited, and much better suited to working babyface. Which is a shame, since his heel character was always tremendous, and infinitely more interesting than his work as a face. ¾*

Ric Flair and Sid Justice v Roddy Piper and Hulk Hogan: From an MSG house show on March 23 1992. Lots of posturing to start, and the crowd is pretty jacked up for this one - which did great business around the circuit at the time. Flair and Piper (the WWF Champion and Intercontinental Champion, respectively) start, and engage in a feeling out process, with Piper surprisingly reserved through it. Were they lacking party favors in the back that night, or something? Ric starts working him over with chops in the corner, but Roddy returns fire, and unloads a ten-punch count on the Nature Boy. The camera crew keeps going to a wide angle for extended periods here, which is odd. Like the angle they use when someone got busted open in the mid-90s. Piper with a kneelift, and a corner whip flips Flair onto the apron for Hogan to big boot. Tag to the Hulkster, but Ric passes to Sid before Hogan can catch up with him, and we get the big stare down. Justice shoots first with a knee, and he stomps Hulk down before hitting a bodyslam. Man, anyone watching this must have known that the WrestleMania main event was going to be a dog. They should have kept their interaction as limited as possible, because Sid working Hulk over for an extended period with kick after kick is just terrible. Hogan reverses a turnbuckle smash and hits a cross corner clothesline, but Sid kicks him again, and expands his move set by throwing in some forearm blows. Back to the kicks, but a whip into the ropes backfires when Hogan blind tags to Piper, and he bodyslams Justice on the way out. Roddy capitalizes with a flurry of mounted punches for two, but he runs into a boot as he comes off the ropes, and Sid takes him down in a side-headlock. They actually work a reversal sequence from there, which ends in Justice planting him with a clothesline. Backbreaker follows, and thankfully the big guy passes back to Flair. They cut the ring in half on Piper, but Roddy manages to slam Ric off the top rope for the tag to Hogan! He comes in hot in the Nature Boy, and the big boot sets up the Legdrop, but Sid comes in with a weapon to break the count! The referee misses it, allowing Justice to place Flair on top, but it only gets two - and triggers the HULK UP!! That brings Justice back in, but Piper is there to brawl, and Roseanne Barr the door! The heels dump Hogan to the floor and gang up on Piper, but Hulk sneaks in with a clothesline on Flair for the pin at 18:02. Interestingly, this would mark Hogan's last appearance at the Garden until 2002, as well as both Piper and Sid's final appearances at the venue for several years. * ¾

WWF Title Two-out-of-Three Falls Match: Ric Flair v Genichiro Tenryu: From a joint WWF/WAR show in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan on September 15 1992. Feeling out process to start, until Flair starts throwing some chops, so Tenryu throws an enzuigiri, then hits a cross corner clothesline. He unloads some chops of his own to flop Flair, and the champion bails to the outside to regroup. He takes control once they're back inside, and a snapmare sets up a kneedrop for two. Another snapmare gets two, and Flair holds onto it for multiple pin attempt to wear his challenger down. Tenryu tries chopping him, so Flair goes to a sleeper. He rides it down for two, but a whip into the corner backfires when Tenryu pops out at him with a lariat. That sends Flair to the floor again, and he uses a cheap shot on the way back in to setup more chops in the corner - only for Tenryu to turn the tables! Cross corner whip follows, but Ric blocks the follow-up charge with a boot and goes up - Tenryu slamming him down. Enzuigiri rattles the champion, so he tries a kneebreaker, but Tenryu topples him, and hits a second enzuigiri. Powerbomb, and that's the first fall at 13:03. Flair landed right on his arm taking that one, he's lucky he didn't break it. Funny bit, as during the break between falls, Tenryu's drink of choice appears to be a beer. It (probably) isn't, but the dark glass bottle wrapped in a paper bag sure makes it look like it is. Tenryu immediately grabs Flair in a chinlock/bodyscissors combo to look for a quick submission, but Ric's in the ropes. Tenryu responds by cracking him with chops, but poor Flair is unable to turn the tables like Tenryu did earlier, and is forced to go to the eyes to stop the onslaught. It's enough to allow Ric to take over with a hanging vertical suplex for two, and a side suplex is worth two. Butterfly suplex gets two, but some chops wake Tenryu up, and Flair is forced to go to the eyes again before he gets destroyed. Leghook side suplex gets two, but a corner whip is reversed, and Tenryu backdrops his ass. Drop-toehold sets up a figure four, but Flair blocks before it can be applied, then hammers him with elbowsmashes to cut off a potential comeback. Ric clips the knee and goes to work on the part in vicious fashion. Kneebreaker sets up a half-crab (don't see that one out of Flair too often), which he then shifts down into a toehold. He wears Tenryu down enough to try for the Figure Four, but the challenger blocks! He fights and fights, but the bad knee ultimately overwhelms him, and Flair gets it applied for the submission at 24:04! Flair keeps after the knee, with poor Tenryu barely able to start, but trying to keep Ric at bay. Flair manages a drop-toehold into an STF (that's another one you don't see too often from Slick Ric), and Tenryu is forced to use the ropes to save himself. Ric gives him a clean break, but then goes right back after the knee, and another leghook side suplex sets up another Figure Four. Tenryu again fights to block, but Flair is having none of that, and wrenches it on. Tenryu manages a unique counter by basically grapevining the leg while in the hold, but Flair has the ropes to save himself. Tenryu looks for a comeback, but Flair is all over the knee before he can do anything. More chops, so Tenryu desperately drops down and sweeps him into a grapevine, and Ric goes to the eyes to escape. Figure Four, but Tenryu counters with an inside cradle for two, and a backslide is worth two. Ric cuts him off with another kneebreaker, but he's battered himself, and can't immediately follow-up. Tenryu capitalizes with a bodyslam, but a trip to the top ends badly when Ric takes out the leg again. Chops, but Tenryu fires back with a shoulderblock, and a cross corner whip sees Flair botch his flip onto the apron. It didn't look bad though, and they didn't make it worse by repeating the spot. Tenryu tries a charge, but runs into an elbow, and Ric clips the leg again to put him down. Kneebreaker leaves Tenryu down for a trip to the top, but Flair takes way too long getting there, and Tenryu throws an enzuigiri to knock him off the apron to the floor. Tenryu follows to try and drag the champ back in, but Ric is basically deadweight on Tenryu's bad knee, and both men are counted out at 37:50. Oooh, and the crowd is PISSED about that finish. And who can blame them, after forty minutes? Very good match, but also very slow and psychological, with few high spots. You have to be a fan of the style, or else this is going to bore you. *** ¼