Goody Bag XXIII: Masks, Face Paint, and Cowboy Hats

 

WCW Light Heavyweight Title Match: Jushin Thunder Liger v Brian Pillman: From a house show in East Rutherford New Jersey on December 27 1991. Feeling out process to start, with Brian quickly taking him down with a headscissors, and hooking a standing victory roll for two. He grounds Liger in a hammerlock, but the champion escapes, and a criss cross ends in Liger hitting a leg-feed enzuigiri and a slingshot splash for two. He grounds Pillman in a leglock, but another criss cross sees Brian take him down with a headscissors, and he adds a dropkick before armdragging Jushin into an armbar. He shifts to another hammerlock to try turning it into a cradle for a few near falls, but Liger powers out with a backdrop, and a spinheel kick sends Pillman to the outside. Liger is on him with a baseball slide, but he stops short of diving, fearing a ready looking challenger. Instead, he lets Brian beat the count, and then grounds him in a chinlock. Brian is able to get him in a mat-based headscissors, but Liger is ready to escape, so Pillman shifts to a mat-based abdominal stretch instead. Liger still fights to a vertical base, so Brian tries a standing hammerlock. Liger reverses, so Pillman dumps him to the outside, but instead of diving, holds the ropes open for the champion. Liger gets insulted, and pulls Pillman to the floor for a whip into the guardrail, then sends him into the post and a table for good measure! Wow, remind me never to hold a door open for Jushin Thunder Liger. Inside, Liger delivers a somersault senton splash, and a backbreaker sets up a flying moonsault for two. Bodyslam sets up a flying somersault senton splash for two, and he goes back to the chinlock - holding it into a pin attempt for two. Knucklelock, but Brian escapes with a monkeyflip - only to charge right into a powerslam for two! Liger with a bodyslam to setup another moonsault, but this time Pillman pops up, and dropkicks him off the top down to the floor! Brian is on him with a baseball slide, and he returns the favor from earlier with a whip into the rail, then adds a chairshot for good measure. Piledriver on the floor, but Liger counters with a backdrop, then dives with a springboard moonsault press out there! Wild! Jushin rolls in to try for the countout, but Brian gets onto the apron, so Liger tries to suplex him back in. Brian blocks, so Liger knocks him off the apron with a spinheel kick, but the challenger still beats the count! That pisses Liger off, and he charges, but Brian is ready with the Air Pillman! He drags Liger over to the edge of the ring to punish with a vertical suplex over the top to the floor, but he doesn't have the luxury of hoping for a countout, and has to drag him back in. That allows Jushin time to recover, and he throws a dropkick as Brian tries a missile version - both men left looking up at the lights. Liger recovers with a crucifix for two, but a spinheel kick misses, and Brian hits his own for two! Backdrop, but Liger counters with a powerbomb for two! Tombstone, but Pillman reverses for two! Another criss cross ends in a double knockout, and Pillman tries to hang on with a sleeper, but Jushin drops into the top turnbuckle to quickly break free. He takes Pillman up for a superplex, but Brian shoves him off the top to block, and dives with a flying bodypress - only for the champion to roll through it to retain at 15:45! Great match, very similar to their later pay per view encounter. Just insane amounts of effort, especially for a house show! **** ½  

Top of the Super Juniors Tournament Final Match: Jushin Thunder Liger v El Samurai: From NJPW Explosion Tour in Tokyo Japan on April 30 1992. Liger is the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion here, but that isn't on the line. Samurai takes control right away, and knocks Liger to the outside to beat on with a few weapons. He adds a tombstone on the floor, but Jushin beats the count, so Samurai drops him on his head with another tombstone inside of the ring, then messes with him by trying to tear the mask off. Legdrop sets up a camel clutch, and poor Liger is just getting destroyed here. Samurai works him over and tries a bow-and-arrow, but Liger won't quit, so Samurai hits a chincrusher, then grounds Jushin again in a chinlock while ripping at the mask. Samurai pounds the back then applies a surfboard, as he's just running the gauntlet of submission holds here. Liger won't quit, so Samurai starts hammering him in the corner, but Liger slugs back, and drops his ass over the top with a vertical suplex to the floor! Jushin is good and pissed, so he pulls up the floor mats to slam Samurai on, then back in with the koppou kick. He returns the favor by going for Samurai's mask, and he actually tears it off! Liger shows no mercy, taking Samurai to the outside for a bodyslam on the floor, then diving onto him with a wild flying somersault senton splash! The finesse to be able to hit that move perfectly without overshooting and crashing into the rail or undershooting and breaking your own neck is incredible. Liger is still pissed, and powerbombs Samurai on the way back in, then dives at him with a flying dropkick. Back to the top, Liger hits a flying kneedrop, and he slaps a sleeper on Samurai. Poor Samurai is so battered here that he's wearing his torn mask limply around his neck still. Liger keeps punishing him with a nasty saito suplex, and a corner koppou kick, then a series of strikes to put Samurai on his ass. Spinheel kick knocks him to the outside, and Liger dives after him with a flying moonsault press. I should note that the camera crew is missing a bunch of shit here. Liger finally backs off and leaves him out there to take the countout, but Samurai disrespects Jushin's attempt at mercy by beating the count in anyway. Oooh, big mistake. Liger goes right after him on the mat, trying to break the arm with a vicious hammerlock and an equally vicious cross armbreaker. It's not every day a dude can make a fucking hammerlock look vicious, but there it is. Samurai fires back with a jumping forearm as they criss cross, and he's able to follow-up with a bodyslam and flying dropkick. Forearm knocks Jushin to the outside, and Samurai dives after him with a somersault plancha! Back in, Samurai delivers a neckbreaker, followed by a nasty inverted DDT for two. Russian legsweep is transitioned into an armbreaker/headscissors combo hold, and Liger is being torn into so badly with that headscissors that his fucking MASK RIPS in the hold! Wow! Samurai tries a superplex, but Liger knocks him down off the top, and capitalizes with a flying splash for two. Tombstone sets up a flying somersault senton splash, but Samurai rolls out of the way - Liger able to pop up, but he misses a dropkick. That allows Samurai to try for a rana, but Liger counters with a powerbomb for two. Any of these spots would be believable finishes. Liger with a super electric chair for two, but a criss cross sees Samurai hook a rana into a cradle for two! Bridging German suplex gets two, so Samurai goes up with a flying bodypress, but Liger dodges, and kills him with a DDT off the top! Not even a cover for that one! Side superplex doesn't warrant a cover either, but a rana off the top does, and Samurai is dunzo at 21:16. Wow! I mean, FUCK, you know? Once this settled into a groove all you could do was get out of its way. It was so intense, both men ended up unmasked at points. And man, pissed off Liger is a fucking bad ass I would not want to mess with! I wasn't sure where they were going with this one at first, but by the end, I was on the edge of my seat! **** ½

NWA World Title v IWGP World Title Match: Masahiro Chono v Great Muta: From WCW/NJPW Supershow III in Tokyo on January 4 1993. Feeling out process to start, with Chono generally dominating, and knocking Muta to the outside on several occasions. Muta manages to whip him into the rail on one such occasion, and a flying tomahawk chop on the way back in puts him in control. He tosses Chono over the top onto the ramp, then follows out with a one-handed bulldog on it. He gets a running start down the super long ramp for a clothesline (I was kinda hoping he was setting up something cooler there), but Chono pops him with a forearm on the way back in. He goes up, but Muta recovers before he can dive, and vertical superplexes Chono down. Saito suplex gets two, and a bridging German suplex is worth two. Handspring backelbow sets up the flying moonsault, but Chono dodges, and immediately capitalizes by hooking on the STF! Muta gets the ropes to break, so Chono throws a big boot, but Muta fires back with a dropkick. Chono responds with another big boot, but Muta throws another dropkick. Third big boot hits, but Muta is ready with a third dropkick. Masahiro with a fourth big boot, and that almost looks to be enough to win this war of attrition when suddenly Muta throws a dropkick anyway - this one actually taking Chono off his feet! He's still up first, and is able to deliver a pair of unanswered big boots to knock Muta onto the apron, but a vertical suplex back in gets reversed onto the ramp! Muta tries a handspring elbow out there, but misses, and Chono side suplexes him on the ramp. He heads in, but Muta dives after him with a forearm to prevent trouble. Suplex, but Masahiro counters with an abdominal cradle for two, and he goes up with a flying shoulderblock for two. Powerbomb is worth two, and a Samoan drop sets up another STF, but Muta gets the ropes. Chono recovers first, but a whip into the ropes backfires when Muta hooks a rana for two. He goes up with the flying moonsault, but Chono lifts his knees to block. He goes up for another flying shoulderblock, but now Muta dodges, and a backbreaker sets up the flying moonsault - but only for two! I totally bought that as the finish. Another moonsault, and that's enough at 19:48. This took a while to get going, but once it got off the ground, the action in the second half was strong. Certainly much better than the egg they laid at Starrcade a week prior, but not the classic its reputation suggests. ** ¾

Stan Hansen v Kenta Kobashi: From AJPW Summer Action Series in Tokyo on July 29 1993. Kobashi attacks with chops right away, knocking Hansen to the outside, and DDT'ing him on the floor out there! Kobashi then dives off the apron with a flying shoulderblock, but the big gaijin starts throwing right hands when Kobashi tries to get him back into the ring, so Kenta is forced to post his ass instead! That knocks Stan silly, and Kobashi is able to get him inside, where he hits a clothesline to setup a legdrop for two. Headlock, so Hansen tries a side suplex to escape, but Kenta tenaciously holds onto it, and wears him down for a two count. He immediately looks to reapply the hold, but Hansen wisely rolls to the outside as soon as the lateral press is released, so Kobashi follows with a pair of big boots against the rail out there. Back in, that's worth two, and a vertical suplex is worth two. Chinlock, but Stan's in the ropes, so Kobashi starts hitting legdrops on the apron to knock him out of the ring. Baseball slide follows, and a backdrop on the way back in gets two. Back to the chinlock, but Stan slugs free, so Kenta bulldogs him back down for two. Chops rattle Stan, so he starts throwing punches, but that just pisses Kobashi off, and a series of big boots puts Hansen down. Kenta charges in the corner, but eats a boot himself, and falls out of the ring - Hansen following with a flying splash off of the apron. He adds a wild powerbomb on the floor for good measure, then heads in to take the countout win, but changes his mind, and delivers a flying elbowdrop off of the apron before rolling Kobashi in to cover for two. Kobashi ain't getting off that easy! Hansen with a kneedrop for two, and an elbowdrop gets two. Basic moves, but Hansen is delivering them with fire here. Kobashi chops him down and hits a big boot for two, but a flying dropkick misses, and Hansen hooks the leg for two. Stan with a 2^nd rope flying splash for two, so Kobashi throws a superkick and a dropkick to try and shake him off. That flurry allows him to unload a few kicks in the corner to rattle Hansen, and he paints his chest with a series of chops, but the big man shoves him away. Hansen unloads a flurry of his own, but Kenta no-sells everything, and clotheslines him down. DDT gets two, so Kobashi tries a sleeper, but Hansen has the ropes. Running kneesmash gets two, but a springboard bulldog is countered with a side suplex for two! Shoulderblock allows Stan to keep control, but Kobashi counters the Lariat with a drop-toehold, and he capitalizes with a series of legdrops. That sets up a flying version, but it only gets two! Kobashi with a bodyslam to setup another legdrop, and a nice flying moonsault is worth two! He goes for a follow-up, so Hansen throws an enzuigiri to buy time, but Kobashi cuts him off with a hangman's clothesline for two. Sunset flip gets two, and a schoolboy is worth two. Inside cradle for two, and another one follows for two - Kenta trying to run him out of gas. Shoulderblock for two, and a bodyslam sets up a trip to the top, but it turns out Hansen has more in the task than Kobashi anticipated, and Stan crotches him up there. I chalk that one up to the cultural differences. Toyota's don't have the same massive fuel tanks an F-150 would, after all. They get into a ferocious battle on the turnbuckle that ends in Stan knocking him off with a headbutt, and that's enough for the pin at 22:35. This was just bombs away here, with both guys potatoing each other for twenty minutes of rocking action. *** ¾