Goody Bag 41: New Japan

Owen Hart and Bam Bam Bigelow v Steve Williams and Pegasus Kid: From NJPW Burning Wave tour on June 30 1990 in Ueda Nagano Japan. Bigelow and Kid start, with Bam Bam immediately using his strength to control. Kid fires back with a leg-feed enzuigiri and a dropkick, but a second dropkick is dodged, and Bigelow knocks him to the outside. Bam Bam tries following with a baseball slide, but Kid dodges, and hits a missile dropkick off of the apron. Whip into the guardrail, but Bigelow reverses, only to miss a charge. That allows Kid to try a flying bodypress on the way back in, but he wipes out. Not sure what he was aiming at there, because even if it had connected, it would have hit Bigelow's knees. Everyone tags out, and Hart comes in chopping, then throws a pair of jumping clotheslines to knock Williams down for one. Owen dazzles through a reversal sequence, and Steve is so impressed that he punches him right in the jaw. He challenges Hart to a test-of-strength, but Owen holds his own by using a monkeyflip. He tries another one out of the corner, but Williams blocks, and press-slams Hart - only to miss an elbowdrop. That allows Owen a series of dropkicks to knock Steve to the outside, and Williams stomps around out there like an angry bull as he regroups. Back in, he pounds Harts down, and passes over to Kid. Reversal sequence ends in a stalemate, but a second one goes Kid's way with a crucifix for two. He dropkicks Owen to the outside to set up a plancha, and Hart hurts his ankle on the landing. Kid tries suplexing him back in from the apron, but Owen slips free, and hooks a bridging German suplex for two. Tag to Bigelow, and he drills Kid with a hanging vertical suplex, but Williams breaks up the cover at two. Press-slam, but Kid topples him for two, so Bigelow clotheslines his ass. Kid tries fighting back with chops, so Bigelow tries another clothesline, but Kid ducks, and lands a jumping version for two. Tags all around, and Williams grounds Owen in a headscissors hold. Hart gets the ropes to escape, and forces Steve to run around through a criss cross - Owen landing a bodypress for two. Unfortunately for him, Williams cuts that off by dropping him on his head with a side suplex, and he dumps Hart to the floor for Kid to snap suplex. Back in, Williams hits an overhead suplex for two, but Owen fires back with a standing dropkick, so Steve barrels into him with a shoulderblock. Over to Kid with a clothesline for two, but Owen wins a criss cross with a dropkick, so Williams comes back in to powerslam him for two. Oklahoma Stampede looks to finish, but Owen manages to topple him for two half way through it, so Kid comes in with a side suplex for two. Again, but Owen counters to a bridging German for two. Again, but Kid reverses for two, and he plants him with a tombstone to set up a flying headbutt for two. Kid takes him upstairs for a side superplex, but Owen topples him on the way down for three at 14:11. Pretty fly for some white guys. *** ¾

Great Muta v Hiroshi Hase: From NJPW's Explosion tour, September 14 1990 in Hiroshima Japan. Feeling out process to start, dominated by Muta, until Hase catches him with a slam, and adds a spinkick for two. Bodyslam sets up a somersault senton splash for two, and Hase tries grounding him in a front-facelock, but Muta escapes in the corner, and hits a handspring backelbow. Muta snapmares him down for the muta-lock, though Hase's selling of it would have you thinking he's getting an intense massage. Muta wrenches anyway, but Hiroshi gets the ropes to force a break, so Muta beats him into the corner as punishment. Hase slugs back, but runs into a spinkick on a charge, and Muta dumps him. He follows out to send Hase into the post, drawing blood. Muta drops him front-first across the rail while they're chilling out there, and he bites at the gash while bringing Hiroshi back into the ring. Muta hits an elbowdrop for two, and boy, Hase tapped a good one tonight. Muta with a piledriver for two, but Hase starts powering up, so Muta unloads on him with kicks to stifle him. Hiroshi keeps coming, so Muta tries a chinlock/bodyscissors combo, but Hase gets the ropes. Hase is woozy, but doesn't back down a bit, so Muta spinkicks him again. Sleeper, but Hase fights free, only to miss an attempt at a dropkick. Hase is doing a great job of getting over the drama here. Muta keeps mercilissly kicking at him, but a headlock is countered with a side suplex, and Hase manages a bodyslam. He goes up for a flying kneedrop for two, and a bridging northern lights suplex is worth two. Clothesline knocks Muta onto the apron, and a shoulderblock sends him crashing the rest of the way out to the floor. Hase follows for a vertical suplex on the floor (which the cameras totally miss), but Muta beats the count back in, where Hiroshi is waiting with a ten-punch count. Hase with a corner clothesline and a suplex to set up a flying tomahawk chop, but Muta sprays him in the eyes with mist to block! That allows him to hit a side suplex, and he brings a weapon into play, but the referee objects. Muta's response involves attacking the official, and I don't care what country you're in, that's a DQ at 18:37. The first five minutes were a total write off, but it was good stuff once it kicked into gear. Didn't love the finish, but it worked in terms of building to a return match. ** ¾

Ricky Steamboat v Great Muta: From NJPW's Antonio Inoki 30^th Anniversary Memorial Festival show on October 28 1990 (taped September 30) in Yokohama Japan. Muta pops him with a standing dropkick out of nowhere, and before Steamboat knows what's hit him, Muta adds a bodyslam, then chokes Ricky down with his belt. They spill to the outside, where Steamboat takes a whip into the rail, and Muta drags him back in by the neck. Muta's all white face paint is pretty badass. Steamboat starts firing back with chops, and uses a dropkick to send Muta bailing. He stalls to kill the momentum, and slows things down as he heads back in, trading full-nelsons with the Dragon. Steamboat manages to get him moving again with a pair of armdrags into an armbar, so Muta forces another criss cross, but eats a dropkick. He responds with one of his own, leading to both guys then trying for a dropkick at the same time for a stalemate. Muta recovers with a bodyslam, but Ricky dodges the elbowdrop, and takes Muta back down for another armbar. Muta starts to escape, so Steamboat cracks him with chops to keep him docile. Steamboat with a savate kick to try and fight off another escape attempt, but this time Muta manages an inverted atomic drop, and then adds an enzuigiri to send Ricky to the outside. Muta follows to drop the Dragon crotch-first across the rail, then does it again just to be an enourmous dick. That bump did not look fun. Back in, Muta spinkicks him, and uses a snapmare to set up a leglock. Ricky tries making a firey, chop based comeback, but Muta matches him blow for blow, and topples the Dragon for two on a bodyslam attempt. Muta goes back to the leglock, and this time manuevers it into a cradle to make Ricky work at keeping his shoulders off the mat while also fighting the hold. Muta lets off, and tries a more direct approach: firing kick after kick at the leg. Steamboat can only stand by leaning on the ropes, but Muta shows no mercy as he wrenches the leg in the corner. Snapmare sets up an elbowdrop for two, and a backbreaker sets up the flying moonsault, but Ricky summons the strength to crotch Muta on the top with a dropkick! He brings Muta down with a side superplex, and a shoulderblock follows for two. Again for another two, and a big chop is worth two. Small package gets two, followed by a somersault cradle for two. Chop, but Muta ducks, and lunges at him with a bodypress, sending both men tumbling over the top. Muta's in first, but Ricky is on his tail with a flying tomahawk chop. Flying bodypress looks to finish, but Muta sprays him in the eyes with the mist, and a backbreaker sets up the flying moonsault at 18:58. Kinda disapointing given the quality of the workers and the time they were given, but certainly okay. I was also disapointed that the extended leg work built to nothing, as Steamboat just kinda stopping selling it once he started making his comeback, and it didn't factor into the finish at all. ** ½

G1 Climax Block A Match: Keiji Mutoh v Big Van Vader: From NJPW G1 Climax on August 10 1991 in Tokyo Japan. Vader doesn't waste much time getting Mutoh in the corner, and thumping him with shots until he bails. Mutoh comes back in all fired up, and knocks big Vader to the outside following a series of strikes, but stops short of diving after him. Back in, Vader suckers him into trying a test-of-strength, and doesn't hestiate to bash him in the head when Mutoh goes for it. Clothesline follows, and Vader hits a slam for two. Mutoh fires back with a few dropkicks to knock Vader back to the outside, but the big man blasts him with a short-clothesline on the way back in. That grounds Muta for a mat-based abdominal stretch, exposing him to some forearm blows from Vader for two. Vader is really letting loose here. You could probably feel these shots up in the cheap seats. Bodyblock sends Mutoh to the outside, and this time Vader follows to send him into the post, but Mutoh dropkicks him off of the apron, and dives with a plancha! He whips Vader into the rail to set up a handspring backelbow out there, and inside, Mutoh hits a crisp elbowdrop for two. He tries grounding Vader in a headlock, but Vader slugs free, and drills him with another clothesline for two. Dragon sleeper, but Mutoh escapes, so Vader tries a suplex, but Mutoh escapes that as well. He starts cracking Vader with some stiff shots of his own, and throws an enzuigiri, followed by a side suplex. Mutoh with a springboard dropkick for two, and a flying moonsault gets two. Handspring backelbow, but Vader counters with a brutal German suplex (which looked almost like a German into a uranage), then sitdown splashes Mutoh. That sets up a standard splash for two, and an avalanche leads to the powerbomb for two. Vader responds by unloading with rights, but Mutoh eventually counters one with a backslide for two. Vader tries to cut that shit off with a bodyslam, so Mutoh tries a small package, but it only gets two. Now Vader is pissed, and decides to squash him with another avalanche, but knocks the wind out himself in the process! That allows Mutoh to go up for a flying bodypress, but Vader catches him in a slam on the way down - only for Mutoh to roll through into a cradle at 13:54! This was little more than two guys absolutely pounding the crap out of eachother, and there's nothing wrong with that sometimes. *** ¼