WCW/NJPW Collision in Korea (August 1995)

Original Airdate: August 4, 1995 (taped April 28-29)

 

From Pyongyang, North Korea; Your Hosts are Eric Bischoff, Mike Tenay, and Kazuo Ishikawa. Kazuo is the future Sonny Onoo

 

Opening Match: 2 Cold Scorpio v Chris Benoit: From day two. Oddly, despite having the biggest crowd in history on hand, the angles and lighting make it look more like an ECW show than WrestleMania III. Feeling out process to start, with both guys pretty evenly matched. Scorpio gets to the top to dive with a flying moonsault press for two, and a superkick puts Benoit down. Scorpio with a bodyslam to set up a flying splash, but Chris dodges, and drops him front-first across the top rope. Scorpio tries coming back with a spinkick, but Benoit dodges, and a dropkick puts Scorpio on the apron. Chris tries a suplex back in, but Scorpio slips free, and superkicks him. Scorpio tries for a tombstone, but Benoit reverses, and he goes to the top with a flying headbutt drop at 6:01. Well, that ending was rather abrupt. This was solid, though it felt more like the first third of a longer match than a complete piece. ** ¼

 

Yuji Nagata v Tokimitsu Ishizawa: From day one. Both guys are dressed identically (down to the wrist tape), so this should be fun to do play by play on. Ishizawa gets a takedown after some posturing, but Nagata grabs at the leg, and they end up in the ropes. Nagata starts working the arm, but Ishizawa manages to get him in a chinlock, so Nagata goes to a leglock. Ishizawa wraps him up in a bodyscissors, but Nagata is in the ropes, so Ishizawa uses a snapmare to set up another chinlock. Nagata wrestles to a vertical base, so Ishizawa starts peppering him with uppercuts, and he tries a cross-armbreaker, but Nagata is in the ropes. Ishizawa with a series of kicks, but Nagata cuts him off with a suplex, and uses his own series of kicks to set up a crippler crossface at 4:31. There was nothing to this one. ¼*

 

Masahiro Chono and Hiro Saito v El Samurai and Tadao Yasuda: From day one. Chono starts with Yasuda, and they measure each other some. Chono grabs a wristlock to get control, and he passes to Saito to help work the part. Yasuda fights him off with a bodyslam, and he passes to Samurai. Samurai manages to pound Hiro down with forearms, and a bodyslam sets up a legdrop for two. Saito manages to tag out, and Chono uses a snapmare to disorient him, then takes Samurai's head off with a big boot. Samurai comes back with a sunset flip for two, and he passes back to Yasuda to nail Chono with his own big boot. Bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Chono dodges, and he tags Hiro in for a double team. Saito with a senton splash for two, but he gets railroaded into the corner while trying a front-facelock, and Samurai tags. Dropkick, but Saito dodges, and Hiro delivers a spinebuster. Tag back to Chono, and he traps Samurai in a reverse chinlock. Chono with an inverted atomic drop, and Hiro tags in with a knee to the groin, as they cut the ring in half on Samurai. Backdrop, but he telegraphs it, and Samurai manages to block long enough to tag. Yasuda comes in with a vertical suplex and a big boot, but Hiro scurries away for the tag. No matter, Yasuda keeps the blitz going on Chono, and then tags Samurai in for a flying headbutt drop for two. Chono shakes him off with a mule kick, and I'm digging Samurai's soccer player style selling of everything. Saito whips him into the ropes for a rebound into a big boot from Chono, and Chono adds a flying shoulderblock at 8:06. This was a basic, but fun little match. ** ¼

 

Bull Nakano and Akira Hokuto v Manami Toyota and Mariko Yoshida: From day one. Bull and Akira blitz them to start, nearly taking their heads off with clotheslines and such, but Toyota fights Bull off long enough for a pair of 2^nd rope dropkicks for two. Over to Yoshida, but Bull quickly bulldozes her, and Akira dives in with a flying splash for two. Akira with a spinkick, and a tiger driver gets her two. Akira works a surfboard, and it's over to Bull for her double-underhook sharpshooter, but Toyota saves. They continue to work Yoshida over, but she manages to win a criss cross against Akira, and she lands a pair of handspring backelbows. Yoshida with a bridging fisherman suplex for two, but a trip to the top ends badly when Akira vertical superplexes her off for two. Bull tries a dive off the middle, but ends up hitting her partner, and that allows the tag to Toyota. She dives in, but lands on Akira's knees, and Bull powerbombs her for two. Again, but Toyota counters with a sunset cradle for two, so Yoshida runs in to try a tandem suplex, but Bull reverses. Akira dives, but misses both opponents, and stereo dropkicks knock the heels to the outside. Yoshida dives with a tope, and Toyota with a springboard flying bodypress. Inside, Toyota bodyslams Akira to set up a flying moonsault for two, but an electric chair gets countered with a victory roll for two. Tag to Yoshida for a clothesline, but Akira ducks, and uses a bridging German suplex for two. Back to Nakano, but Yoshida dives at her with a 2^nd rope bodypress for two. Pair of dropkicks only rattle Bull, so Toyota comes in for a stereo version, knocking her down. Akira responds by diving at both with a double version, and then adds a dive on the floor for good measure. She rolls Yoshida in to hit with a bodyslam, setting Bull up for a flying legdrop at 8:38. Okay, so this was pretty awesome, with all four women going pedal to the metal the entire time, and letting it all hang out. A really fun outing. Oddly, Nakano and Hokuto would then wrestle each other on day two. *** ½

 

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Shinya Hashimoto v Scott Norton: This went on last at day one. They measure each other some to start, dominated by the challenger. Norton hits an avalanche, but Hashimoto comes back with a series of kicks, and a spinheel kick gets him two. Hashimoto works the arm, but Norton forces a criss cross, and hits a jumping shoulderblock. God, Scott really is built like a Buick, as Bobby Heenan once said. Norton with a pair of short-clotheslines, but Hashimoto ducks a third, and throws an enzuigiri. It's so weird to see Norton sell. Hashimoto goes back to the arm, but Norton fights him off, so Hashimoto tries another spinheel kick, but Scott ducks. Norton blasts him with a clothesline for two, and he works a chinlock, then uses a bodyslam to set up a trio of elbowdrops for two. Powerbomb, but Hashimoto manages a backdrop to shake him off, and a dropkick follows. Hashimoto goes back to the arm again, so Scott rakes the eyes, and gives him a rope burn. Backbreaker sets up a pump-splash for two, so Norton starts punching him in the gut to knock the wind out of him, then grounds him in a chinlock to try and force a submission. Hashimoto makes the ropes, so Norton gives him a stomachbreaker, setting up an elbowdrop for two. Clothesline gets two, but Hashimoto blocks a chop, and clips the leg to buy time. Hashimoto with a series of strikes for two, and an elbowdrop is worth two. DDT gets two, so Hashimoto tries choking him out with a chinlock, but he can't put it away. Irish whip, but Norton reverses, and manages a sloppy DDT. Powerbomb, but Hashimoto keeps blocking him. Norton manages a vertical suplex instead, but Hashimoto is in the ropes at two. Scott stays on him with chops, but Hashimoto responds in kind, catching a second wind. Superkick gets the champion two, but Norton comes back with the powerbomb, finally executing it. That allows him to get to the top for a flying splash, but it only gets two. Scott looks for a follow up, but time expires at 20:00 before he can find it. Well, that was a stupid finish. I guess they didn't want the WCW guy jobbing on their pay per view, but they didn't want to switch the title either, so that's what you get. Kind of a weird time limit for a world title match, though. *

 

Hawk v Tadao Yasuda: From day two. Kind of weird that they'd show two Yasuda matches, though it would not at all surprise me if they just assumed we wouldn't even notice since 'they all look alike.' They slug it out to start, won by Hawk. He hits a corner clothesline, and they measure each other a little, again dominated by Hawk. Hawk adds a jumping shoulderblock and a bodyslam to set up a flying fistdrop, but Yasuda dodges. Yasuda with his own bodyslam, but Hawk no-sells a butterfly suplex, popping up with a clothesline. Hawk with a powerslam to set up a fistdrop, and a flying clothesline finishes at 2:22. ¼*

 

The Steiner Brothers v Kensuke Sasaki and Hiroshi Hase: From day two. Scott Steiner starts with Hase, and wrestles him down in a waistlock. Back to a vertical base, and Scott beats him into the corner for a hiptoss, then press throws him over the top! That draws Sasaki in, but Rick Steiner cuts him off, and the Brothers clean house. Dust settles back on Scott and Hase, and Steiner dominates a test-of-strength, but Hase manages a savate kick. Hase adds a nice dropkick, but Scott overhead suplexes him before he can follow up, and adds a tilt-a-whirl slam. Both men tag, and Rick drills him with clotheslines, but Sasaki keeps no-selling, and drops Steiner on his head with a German suplex. Sasaki tries a flying axehandle, but Rick catches him in an overhead suplex, so Sasaki comes back with a powerslam before tagging out. Hase comes in with chops, but now it's Rick's turn to no-sell, and a clothesline puts Hase down for two. Rick brutally drops him into the corner with an inverted powerslam, and he tags Scott in to kill him with a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Back to Rick to turn Hase inside out with a German suplex, but it only gets two when Sasaki saves. The Brothers work Hase over, but he manages to fight Rick off with a saito suplex, and there's the tag to Sasaki - Roseanne Barr the door. Sasaki runs wild, and a side suplex/flying elbowdrop combo with Hase sets Rick up for a giant swing. German suplex, but Rick reverses, dumping poor Hase right on his head. That allows the tag to Scott, and he gives him a pumphandle-slam for two. Sasaki runs in, but Rick cuts him off, and the Steiner Screwdriver finishes Hase at 11:49 (though the camera totally misses it). The Steiner's being big, heelish, overgrown dicks is always fun. ** ¾

 

Main Event: Ric Flair v Antonio Inoki: From day two. Despite both having long, storied careers, this is the one and only meeting between the two legends. Feeling out process to start, dominated slightly by Inoki. Flair gets him into the corner with chops to take control, and Inoki ends up on the outside, frustrated. Ric puts the boots to him when Inoki tries rolling back in, and then hops to the outside to send him into the post for good measure. Ric with a hanging vertical suplex for two, and a kneebreaker leads to an STF. Well, there's something you don't see from Flair every day. Ric keeps working the leg, and another kneebreaker leads to the figure four, but Inoki fights him off. The unfortunate thing is that I don't think this crowd really understands the significance of the hold, and so it's pretty meaningless to them. Stuff like suplexes and slams are self-explanatory, but a figure four looks pretty nondescript to a non-fan. Ric responds by going back to it, but Inoki counters with a cradle for two, and a backslide gets two. Inoki starts unloading with rights, flopping Flair, and a cross corner whip flips him to the outside. Ric beats the count, but a trip to the top ends with him getting slammed off. I'm not even sure why he'd try that (in kayfabe). I mean, even in the best of times it rarely works out for him, let alone when he's already on the defensive. Inoki with a dropkick for two, so Flair fires off a shot to the gut, and a kneedrop gets two. Side suplex is worth two, so Flair tries a bodyslam, but Inoki cradles his way out of it. Koppou kick sets up a flying kneedrop, and Inoki adds an enzuigiri at 14:52. This was fine, though super basic. * ¼

 

BUExperience: Though there’s only one match actually worth watching, the show is such a historical curiosity that it’s definitely well worth checking out anyway.

 

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