IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki v The Steiner Brothers: From the WCW/NPJW Starrcade in the Tokyo Dome (aka the WCW/New Japan Supershow) on March 21 1991 in Tokyo Japan. The Steiners also hold the WCW World and United States tag belts at this point. Hase starts with Scott Steiner, and Scott immediately takes him down to try a Texas cloverleaf, but Hase gets into the ropes. The condescending manner in which Scott dumps his legs on the break is awesome. Hase takes the smirk off of his face with a takedown into a cradle, not even trying for the pin, but just letting Steiner know that he's here to play. Scott responds with a suplex, but Hase blocks a bodyslam, and wins a criss cross with a well placed kick. Clothesline knocks Scott over the top, and Hase teases a dive, but backs off. Both men tag out, and Sasaki takes Rick Steiner down in a side-headlock. Rick gets to a vertical base and forces a criss cross, but runs into a powerslam. Neat seeing the tables turned like that on one of Rick's signature spots. Sasaki with a bulldog, and he nearly takes his head off with a clothesline before passing back to Hase. Unfortunately for Hase, he gets muscled into the corner, and Scott comes in with a pumphandle-slam. Scott takes him up for a Samoan drop off the middle rope, and it's back to Rick to crumple Hase up with an inverted slam into the corner. Clothesline follows, and then back over to Scotty for a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Finally, a pin attempt. Scott with a DDT to cut off a comeback attempt, and Rick tags in to brutalize him with an overhead superplex for two. The Brothers continue cutting the ring in half without interruption, until Hase manages to suplex Scott to escape a chinlock, and he covers for two. Unfortunately, he's still in no man's land, and Rick is able to trap him on the mat before he can think about a tag. Hase manages to fight Rick off with a giant swing, but Scott clobbers him before he can follow up and/or tag. Scott tags in with a tigerbomb for two, but a double team with Rick ends badly when Hase suplexes Rick, and gives Scott a uranage. That allows the hot tag to Sasaki, and Roseanne Barr the door! Powerslam on Rick gets two, and a running powerslam allows Sasaki to superplex Hase onto Rick! Hase with a bridging northern lights suplex on Rick for two, but a criss cross results in a double knockout. Rick gets a tag off, and Scott runs in with a dropkick, followed by a tilt-a-whirl slam. Sasaki comes in to give him a neckbreaker, and the champs go for a combo, but Rick saves before they can execute it. That allows the Brothers to hoist Sasaki up for the flying bulldog combo, and Scott adds a Frankensteiner on Sasaki to win the belts at 12:53. What the fuck was I thinking in my first watch? **** (Original rating: * ½)
IWGP Tag Team Title Match: The Steiner Brothers v Kensuke Sasaki and Hiroshi Hase: From NJPW Crush The Super Heavy II, May 31 1991 in Tokyo. The Steiners are also the WCW World Tag Team champions at this point, but that's not on the line. Scott Steiner starts with Hase, and Hase's speed helps him avoid takedowns, until he's able to stun Scott with an enzuigiri to knock him to the outside. Scott dusts himself off and dodges a dropkick on the way back in, allowing him an elbowdrop, and an Oklahoma stampede into a running powerslam. Scott takes him upstairs for a superplex, but Hase lands on his feet, and he clotheslines Scott over the top! Hase is fighting fire with fire tonight! Back in, he tries more of the same, but Scott manages a hotshot as they criss cross, and Steiner covers for two. Double-knucklelock sees Hase bridge up into a savate kick, but Scott suplexes him again, and both guys decide it best to tag out. Rick Steiner quickly drops him on his head with a German suplex, and Sasaki wisely bails, selling the crap out of it. Something tells me it wouldn't take too much effort to sell that sort of thing. Back in, Rick tries a backdrop, but Sasaki blocks, and he passes back to Hase for a double clothesline. Armbar, but Rick fights him off with an overhead suplex, so Sasaki tags in to bulldog the Gremlin. Sasaki tries a tombstone, but Rick reverses for two, so Sasaki just starts absolutely teeing off on him with a crazy series of rights. Rick is so battered that Scott comes in without even a tag to try and switch off, but the referee cuts him off, and Rick collides with Sasaki for a double knockout. He manages the tag to Scott, and Steiner comes in with a pumphandle-slam, followed by a powerbomb/flying elbowdrop combo by the champs for two. They cut the ring in half on Sasaki with brutal efficiency, until Scott takes a trip to the top, and ends up getting superplexes off. Hase, in great form, immediately dives in with a flying elbowdrop, and then cheers Sasaki on before getting ushered out by the official. That was tremendous. Sasaki gets Scott in a sharpshooter, so Rick comes in to try and break it, but Hase cuts him off. Rick gets the better of a brawl on the outside, however, and he comes in to save Scott, but Sasaki clotheslines him, then puts Scott right back in the hold anyway! Awesome! Scott makes the ropes to free himself, and he manages to come back with a tigerbomb, before passing to Rick. Rick clotheslines Sasaki, then nails Hase just for the hell of it. Inverted powerslam into the corner connects, and an inverted powerslam on the mat is worth two. Sasaki comes back with his own powerslam, buying time to tag, but so does Rick. Scott catches Hase with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, and he takes Hase up for an Olympic slam off the middle for two. Back up for an overhead superplex, but Sasaki breaks the count at two. I love how pissed off the official gets at them for this stuff. Scott tries a suplex, but Hase counters with a uranage for two, and a bridging northern lights suplex gets two when Rick saves. Sasaki responds by clotheslining him out of the ring, but Scott manages to recover with a clothesline on Hase, and the champs kill him with the bulldog combo, but Sasaki saves again. Scott the Frankensteiner, and this time Sasaki is being pummeled by Rick on the outside, and you'd better believe that's all she wrote at 16:49! This was another crazy awesome display, with all four guys firing on all cylinders, and just going non-stop for seventeen minutes. **** ½
The Steiner Brothers v Sting and Great Muta: From the NPJW/WCW Super Warriors in Tokyo Dome (aka the WCW/New Japan Supershow II), January 4 1992 in Tokyo. Scott Steiner starts with Muta, and Scott tries for takedowns, but Muta holds him off with some beautiful kicks. Scott gets pissed and plants him with a spinebuster, but a criss cross allows Muta a spinkick, and he adds a dropkick. Both guys tag out, and Rick Steiner hiptosses Sting over, then nails him with a clothesline, followed by a flying bulldog for two. Rick was hardly ever graceful, but damned if he didn't look impactful. Cross corner whip backfires when Sting rebounds out with a clothesline, and he uses a bulldog of his own, followed by an inverted powerslam into the corner. Stinger Splash, but Rick dodges, and Scott tags in with a tigerbomb! Tilt-a-whirl slam gets two, but Sting reverses a tombstone, then adds an elbowdrop for two. Tag to Muta for a flying elbowsmash, and he adds a crisp elbowdrop. Muta's execution is on another level tonight. Scott fights off a fujiwara armbar with a suplex to allow the tag to Rick, and the Gremlin superplexes Muta. German suplex gets two, and Scott tags back in with a pumphandle-slam, then takes him for a tide with a Samoan drop off the middle. Scott traps him in a dragon sleeper to wear him down, and a powerbomb/flying elbowdrop combo with Rick gets them two. Rick works a chinlock before dumping him into the corner with his inverted powerslam for two, and Scott uses a belly-to-belly suplex, before dumping him to the outside for Rick to add his own on the floor. Back in, Scott tries a clothesline, but Muta ducks him, and manages a side suplex. He tags out, but Sting fails to cut the ring in half, and so does Scott. Sting still manages the Stinger Splash on Rick, and Muta tags in for a handspring backelbow, but gets caught in a German suplex for two when Sting saves. That draws Scott in, and Roseanne Barr the door! Sting and Muta drop Scott with a tandem bulldog, and Sting presses Muta at Rick to send both guys over the top! Sting then dives with a flying bodypress on the outside, and Muta with a plancha! They get overconfident, however, and the Brothers dive off the same top rope with stereo flying clotheslines on the way back in. They add stereo suplexes, but Sting reverses a cradle on Scott for the pin at 11:03, with Rick distracted by his own cover, and unable to make the save! A little slow in the middle, but good action throughout here, and Muta's execution was especially fine. *** ¾
IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Big Van Vader and Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow v The Steiner Brothers: From NJPW Masters Of Wrestling on June 26 1992 in Tokyo. Vader was the WCW World Champion at this point. Bigelow starts with Scott Steiner, and he's looked all fiery (sorry), but Scott takes him down right away to humble him. Scott tries for a second takedown, but this time Bigelow fights him off with a leg-feed enzuigiri. Criss cross allows Scott to come back with a clothesline, but a dropkick misses, and Bigelow drops an elbow. He takes Scott into his home corner to double up on, so Rick Steiner comes in for the save, and the challengers manage to clean house. The dust settles on Bigelow and Rick, and Crusher goes to the eyes, but misses a dropkick. That allows Rick a clothesline, but a corner charge hits boot, and Vader tags in. He unloads on Rick in the corner with stiff looking shots, but Rick returns fire, and wins the exchange. Rick tries grabbing a headlock, but Vader side suplexes his way out of it, and delivers an avalanche. Short-clothesline follows, but a charge gets caught with a backdrop, and Rick dumps him on his head with a German suplex. Clothesline sends Vader over the top, and Scott tags in, but falls off the top rope while trying a dive. Quite the botch there. Vader splashes him for two, and it's over to Bigelow to work a chinlock. The champs cut the ring in half, until Vader misses a sit-down splash, and Scott is able to plant him with the Frankensteiner! That allows the hot tag to Rick, and Roseanne Barr the door! Rick tries a flying clothesline on Bigelow, but gets caught in a hotshot, and Vader gets the tag back in. He clotheslines Rick a few times to set up a splash, but Scott saves at two. Powerbomb gets two, so he passes back to Bigelow to try his own splash, but it only gets two as well. DDT gets two, but the referee gets bumped during a bodyslam, and there's no one to count when Crusher hits a somersault senton splash! Bigelow revives the official, but that allows Rick to recover, and a belly-to-belly suplex finishes at 16:24. Hard work across the board here. This was like a US style tag match, but everyone maxing out their work rate. Bigelow, especially, was like a whole different worker compared to his US stuff. *** ¼
IWGP Tag Team Title Match: The Hell Raisers v The Steiner Brothers: From NJPW/WCW Fantastic Story in Tokyo Dome (aka WCW/New Japan Supershow III), January 4 1993 in Tokyo. Hawk Warrior starts with Scott Steiner, and Scott outclasses him on the mat with some takedowns to start, so Hawk comes back with raw power. Of course, trying to match SCOTT STEINER for power is not the best strategy, and Hawk gets clotheslined, then suplexed. That just pisses Hawk off even MORE, however, and he press-drops Scott out of the ring to show him who's boss. Back in, Scott fights off a backdrop with a butterfly powerbomb, but Hawk no-sells a clothesline on him, and knocks him over the top again with a clothesline. Scott hurts his knee on the landing this time, and both guys tag out. Rick Steiner gets the better of Power Warrior with a belly-to-belly suplex, and a bodyslam leads to a flying clothesline, but Power blocks with a dropkick. He adds a clothesline and a German suplex, but a 2nd rope axehandle attempt is caught with an overhead suplex. Power wisely tags out, and Hawk tries powering Rick into the wrong corner, getting him suplexed by Scotty. Scott tries a Boston crab, so Hawk starts messing with him by doing pushups in the hold, so Rick comes in with an elbowdrop to tell him to fuck off. Scott tries an STF, but Hawk escapes, and uses a leg-feed enzuigiri to set up a chinlock. Hawk with a shoulderbreaker for two, so Rick tags back in, and they do a test-of-strength. Back to Power for a tandem backelbow, and a powerslam follows for two. Rick buys time with a suplex and manages a tag to Scott, and Scott comes in with a pumphandle-slam. Powerbomb/flying elbowdrop combo gets the challengers two, and they cut the ring in half on Power. The Brothers kill him with the flying bulldog combo, but Hawk saves at two, so they send him a message by giving Power a doomsday device! Hawk saves at two again, and this time Power is able to powerslam Rick during a criss cross to allow the tag. Rick gets one too, but Hawk comes in swinging. He uses a few clotheslines, but a whip into the ropes gets reversed, and Scott powerslams him for two. Power comes in, so Scott gives him a Frankensteiner, but Hawk dives with a flying clothesline, and Roseanne Barr the door! The Raisers take Scott out for a brutal looking Doomsday Device on the floor (with both Scott and Hawk crashing hard into the guardrail), and everyone ends up down on the outside for a double countout at 14:41. It goes without saying that Hawk is no Hiroshi Hase, but even so, it was clear watching this that the Steiners were very different workers at this point than they were even just a couple of years earlier. ** ½
The Steiner Brothers v Keiji Muto and Hiroshi Hase: From NJPW Battlefield, January 4 1994 in Tokyo. Muto looks like a completely different guy in short, bright trunks and no face paint. Scott Steiner and Hase start, and Scott wants to hold him on the mat, but Hase is slippery. Both guys tag out, and after getting in each other's faces for a bit, Rick bites him in the ass. I guess they figured there was better long run money bringing the Bushwhacker act over to Japan now that they were getting older? Back to Scott to let an overhead suplex rip, and Muto immediately bails to kill the momentum. He passes to Hase on the way back inside, and Scott actually loses a battle over a takedown! Hase cranks on a crossface, but Scott manages to counter to a mat-based abdominal stretch, but he can't coax a submission. Criss cross allows Scott a shoulderblock, and a butterfly powerbomb leads to a press-slam. Muto comes in, but Rick cuts him off with his own press-slam, and the Brothers clean house. Dust settles on Scott and Hase, and Hase comes at him with a flurry of chops, then passes to Muto to suplex Scott on the ramp. Muto then comes sprinting from the back of the ramp with a clothesline, so Rick chases, but also gets suplexed out there to set up a big charge from Hase. Back in, Muto puts Scott in a figure four, and Hase tags in to work a muta-lock. Fitting. They cut the ring in half on Scotty, but Rick gets the tag, and dumps Hase in the corner with an inverted powerslam. Hase fights back with chops, and he brings Muto in to snapmare Rick down for an elbowdrop. Muto works a short-armscissors, but Rick powers to a vertical base and escapes, only to get cut off by Hase with a vicious uranage. Hase goes upstairs, but Scott hooks his ankle, allowing Rick to recover with a superplex. Tag to Scott for a big clothesline, so Muto rushes in, but gets a taste too. Scott gives Hase a tilt-a-whirl slam for two, and a brutal looking Steiner Screwdriver follows. Man, he really nailed him with that one. I've never seen anyone in the US take such a brutal version. Muto tries coming in, but Rick cuts him off, so Scott starts throwing a flurry of clotheslines, but gets caught with a uranage for two. Over to Muto for a well executed backdrop, and an equally well executed dropkick. A flying bulldog combo just PLANTS Scotty on the mat, and Hase uses a bridging German suplex for two, as Muto dives at Rick with a plancha. Hase with a bridging northern lights suplex for two, and Muto lands a handspring backelbow, followed by a one-handed bulldog. Full-nelson, but Rick rushes in to break it up, so Hase comes in to brawl with him. That allows Muto to dive at Scott with a flying moonsault for two, and he's frustrated. That allows Scott to pull out a Frankensteiner during a criss cross, but he's too battered to cover. Both guys manage tags, and Rick press-slams Hase to set up an elbowdrop for two. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker follows, and the Brothers go for the kill with the elevated DDT combo, but Muto is in before anyone can cover. The Brothers dump him, and then hoist Hase back up for the flying bulldog combo. Muto tries one last save, but he falls short, and Scott pins Hase at 20:51. This was a less serious effort than some of their earlier works, but still a good match that really built into something interesting by the end. The Steiners would then follow this up by flying back to America and having a classic match against the Hart brothers one week later, in what would end up being the best match of their WWF run. *** ½
IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Keiji Muto and Hiroshi Hase v The Steiner Brothers: From NJPW Battle 7, January 4 1995 in Tokyo. One year later, this time for the title. Ugly gear for the Steiners tonight. I guess losing that WWF and WCW money was really taking its toll. But even this ugly ass shit is preferable to that weird leather/studded look they adopted when they went back to WCW. Scott Steiner starts with Hase, and they trade off on the mat for a bit, feeling each other out. Rick Steiner wants in, so Scotty tags, and Rick wins a criss cross with a powerslam. That draws Muto in, but Rick press-slams him, as Scott comes in to press Hase, and the Brothers clean house. They all take a break to go sexually harass some women in the crowd, and the dust settles on Muto and Rick. Not much happens. Back to Scott to also trade off with Muto on the mat-o, until Hase finally tags back in to start blasting Scott with chops. Finally. Hase with a somersault senton splash for two, and the champs go to work, trading off abuse on Scott's leg. He manages to escape long enough to tag, and Rick nails Hase with a clothesline for two, then grabs an armbar. He drops Hase into the buckles with the inverted powerslam, and then back to Scott to tie him up in an STF. Then Rick comes in and does the same damned hold. Rick with a superplex for two, and this poor crowd is just napping out there with this boring ass Great American Bash '92 shit. He tries again, but Hase fights him off with a tornado DDT, and passes to Muto. Rick blocks a handspring backelbow, so Muto dropkicks him out to the ramp instead, and bulldogs him out there. Meanwhile, Scott grabs Hase with a butterfly powerbomb in the ring, as Rick ducks a running clothesline on the ramp, and Scott tosses Muto off of it. Back in, Scott overhead suplexes Muto and puts him in a dragon sleeper, but Muto won't quit. Scott shifts to a cradle for two, and then passes back to Rick for a sloppy belly-to-belly suplex for two. They Brothers work Muto over, but a front-powerslam off the middle draws Hase in, so Scotty kills him with a Frankensteiner, but no count since he's not legal. Okay, so back to Muto with a cradle for two, and a dragon suplex follows. Screwdriver, but Muto counters to a tombstone, and both guys tag. Hase suplexes Rick and gives him a giant swing, but a big boot backfires when Rick rebounds with a clothesline. Hase tries staying on track with a uranage, but Rick counters with a DDT, and the Brothers go for the kill with the elevated DDT combo, but Hase counters with a victory roll on Rick for two. That allows Muto to bring Scott off the top with a rana, but Rick is able to German suplex Hase. One for Muto, but he lands on his feet, and Hase bridging suplexes Rick to retain at 25:13. This was really slow and boring compared to the 1994 match, and you could tell that the Steiners weren't really feeling it the way they once did anymore, even against strong opponents. Though Muto and Hase seemed to have it in fairly low gear here as well. The other thing I didn't like about this one is how they were doing tons of callbacks to the 1994 match, but all of them felt like perfunctory nods instead of something building on the old piece to enhance the new piece. * ¾
The Steiner Brothers v Kensuke Sasaki and Manabu Nakanishi: From NJPW Fighting Spirit, February 11 1995 (taped February 3) in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. More ugly gear for the Brothers here. Scott Steiner starts with Nakanishi, and Scott takes him down to pretzel a bit right away. Nakanishi escapes and uses an Oklahoma stampede, and he ties Scott up on the mat in a cobra clutch. Scott fights to a vertical base, so Nakanishi swings him around in the hold a bit, and then dumps him. Scott regroups on the outside for a bit, and he comes back in with a suplex before passing to Rick Steiner. Nakanishi tries greeting him with a dropkick, but gets brushed off, and Rick wants Sasaki. Rick gets the better of their initial exchange with clotheslines, but Sasaki no-sells, and responds in kind. Sasaki adds a powerslam for two, and a bulldog follows. Back to Nakanishi for a flying axehandle, but Rick fights off the follow up by taking him down to grind on the mat for a bit. Nakanishi gets into the ropes, so Rick tags out, and Scott overhead suplexes him. The Brothers work Nakanishi over, but Rick wastes time taunting Sasaki, and gets a German suplex reversed on him. That allows the hot tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! Sasaki nicely armdrags Rick down for a submission, but Scott saves, so Nakanishi dumps him to the outside. That allows Sasaki to get the hold back on, but Scott fights Nakanishi off long enough to save again. Dust settles on Rick and Nakanishi, and Nakanishi dents him with a backdrop driver. Torture rack/flying axehandle combo with Sasaki follows, but Sasaki misses a charge, and goes careening over the top. That allows Scott to tag in, and he grabs Nakanishi for a butterfly powerbomb, followed by the flying bulldog combo at 12:54. This was fine, and didn't overstay its welcome. ** ¼
The Steiner Brothers v Scott Norton and Mike Enos: From NJPW Fighting Spirit, February 25 1995 (taped February 4) in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Scott Steiner starts with Enos, and he takes him down for some stretching. Enos tries to criss cross, so Scott takes him down with a monkeyflip, and he holds a headscissors. Scott takes him into the corner for a hiptoss, but Enos fights him off with a clothesline, and he uses a bodyslam to set up a slingshot somersault senton splash, but Scott dodges. That allows Scott a suplex, and he passes to Rick Steiner. Rick gets his own takedown, and a bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop for two. Criss cross allows Enos to come back with a powerslam, but a splash misses, and Scott tags back in with an overhead suplex. That sends Enos running for a tag to Norton, and it's scary how big he is that even Scott Steiner looks kind of small next to him. They size each other up for a bit, and Norton gets control with a clothesline. He smacks Scott around for a bit, and a corner clothesline works, but a second one doesn't. That allows Scott to go after the arm, and the Brothers work it, cutting the ring in half. So weird seeing Norton doing all the selling in a match like this. It's funny that he'd always no-sell guys in WCW because he 'didn't want to mess with his image in Japan,' but here he is selling like crazy in Sapporo. That said, this heat segment kind of drags on, with the Brothers working the arm forever. It's good, it's focused, but there's only so long you can watch them wrench his arm around the ropes and kick it. Norton manages to fight Rick off long enough to tag out, but Enos doesn't even come in, instead focusing on helping his partner get carried out. Norton is overcompensating like crazy here. So Enos is left alone, and he tries getting fired up, but fighting both Steiner Brothers is not exactly a downhill battle. It's not long before he starts eating suplexes, and Rick clotheslines him for two as Norton gets checked up on by the entrances, still down. Scott with a German suplex for two, as a battered Norton starts crawling back towards the ring. Meanwhile, the Brothers look to polish Enos off before he gets there, and the flying bulldog combo hits, but Norton sprints in before they can cover, and Roseanne Barr the door! Enos nails Scott with a fallaway slam, but Rick clotheslines him before he can follow up. That allows Scott to recover with a dragon suplex for two, and an overhead superplex is worth two. The Brothers go for the elevated DDT combo, and Norton is too battered to save, allowing Scott the pin at 18:53. This was a little long for what it was, but watching big guys throw each other around is always fun, and there was some shockingly good selling from Norton here. ** ½
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