The SmarK Rant For Best Of Japan 2002 – Volume 1

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The SmarK Rant for the Best of Japan 2002 – Volume 1

– Yeah, so I’m skipping the last volume of the 2001 set in order to get on with this one, so sue me. Just be glad I finally got a chance to start this one, given how many other tapes and DVDs I’ve got sitting by my computer waiting to be reviewed. As always, much love to Rob Hunter at Goldenboytapes.com for providing these and doing the work in making them.

– GHC Junior heavyweight title: Tatsuhito Takaiwa v. Naomichi Marufuji. This is Dec 9 / 2001 according to the matchlist. I really like both guys, so this should rock accordingly. Takaiwa hits him with a lariat right off, and a triple powerbomb, onto the RAMP, follows. That’s badass, yo. Out to the ramp for another one, but Marufuji reverses to a rana and superkicks him away. Back in, Takaiwa grabs a chinlock and quickly switches to the arm, and they reverse off that until Marufuji dropkicks out of it. Takaiwa stomps a mudhole and drops him on the top rope. Legbar, reversed by Marufuji, but Takaiwa has things well in hand and turns it into a headlock instead. They exchange chops, which only pisses Takaiwa off more, and he no-sells a forearm and hits another lariat for two. Back to the mat as he works an armbar and crossfaces Marufuji. He gets nasty by bending the hand in a position it wasn’t meant to go, and then kills him with a brainbuster and goes to a half-crab. Reverse elbow gets two. Marufuji is just getting killed out there. Takaiwa tosses him and lays in the chops, but Marufuji sneaks in and hits him with a plancha (or “PLLAAAAAAANNCHAAAA!” as the announcers call it) to take over. However, Takaiwa suplexes him off the apron to end that rally. Marufuji goes up, but Takaiwa sweeps his feet from under him, resulting in a brutal-looking bump to the mat, and he goes up to drop a pair of elbows on his knee. Figure-four (on the CORRECT leg, thankfully), and he prevents Marufuji from reversing it. He puts him on top for a superplex, but Marufuji escapes and hangs Takaiwa in the Tree of Woe, dropkicking him in the face. Missile dropkick gets two. Takaiwa comes back with a german suplex for two, however. They reverse off another suplex attempt and Marufuji rolls him up for two. Rana attempt is blocked with a Death Valley Driver by Takaiwa for two. They head up for a top rope version, but Takaiwa keeps picking him up. Double powerbomb into a lariat gets two. That’s such a cool combo move. Back to the top, but Marufuji escapes and dropkicks him into a top rope rana. Superkick and Acid Drop only get ONE, as Takaiwa kicks out with authority. That’s a bad sign. Takaiwa blocks a rana by powerbombing him into the TURNBUCKLES and getting a Texas Cloverleaf. Another try, but Marufuji reverses for two. He walks into a lariat for two, however. They head up and Marufuji reverses a superplex in mid-air, and then heads back up for a Shooting Star Press that gets the pin and the title at 22:09. Takaiwa puts him on his shoulders to congratulate him. That was one hell of a beating taken by Marufuji with absolutely sick-looking (but safe) bumps, and the kid continues to impress. ****1/2

– GHC Heavyweight title: Jun Akiyama v. Vader. I haven’t seen Vader since his move to Japan. This is also from the December 9 2001 NOAH show. Lockup to start and Vader overpowers Jun and pounds away. Corner splash misses and they slug it out, but Akiyama can’t get the Exploider. Vader dumps him and sends him into the railing a couple of times. Akiyama fights back and slugs away on the floor, and SLAMS him onto the table. Well, Vader’s still mobile enough to take THAT bump. Jun works him over with a chair and wraps the arm around the post in a way it wasn’t meant to bend, and on the railing as well. Well, that sets up our psychology for the match. Back in, Vader escapes an armbar by making the ropes, but Akiyama takes him down again with another one. He works the arm, but Vader clubs at him to escape. Back to the arm, but Vader gets a release german suplex to get rid of him. Another try is blocked and Vader sends him out to the ramp to buy time for his arm. He nails him coming back in, however. Back to the ramp, as Vader sends him to the floor and suplexes him onto the railing. That looked kinda weak. Vader kicks his ass in the crowd and they head back in, where Vader slugs him down and draws a standing 8-count. Did one of the announcers just call him “Master Vader”? Because if so, don’t tell Russo. Gourdbuster and elbowdrop get two. Vader’s size is really hurting his ability to follow through here. He slugs Akiyama down and backdrops him for two. Pump splash gets two. Jun escapes a powerbomb and goes for the knee now, dropkicking it to set up an Exploider. A rather nice one considering the size of Vader. High knee and another suplex get two. Guillotine choke , but Vader escapes easily and slugs him down again. That didn’t look good. Vader drops another elbow for two. Back up, but Jun was goldbricking, and he powerbombs Vader off. Vader fights off the Exploider attempt, however, and pounds him down. Chokeslam and elbow get two. Another chokeslam is countered with a cross-armlock and Vader has nowhere to go. He rolls out of it and slugs away again, but Akiyama sweeps him into another cross-armlock and Vader taps at 17:16. The newer, slower Vader doesn’t do it for me. ***

– Hair v. Hair: CIMA v. Masaaki Mochizuki. From Toryumon, Dec. 2001. A brawl between the rival factions is teased early, and CIMA dropkicks the knee to start but gets kicked down. Mochizuki knees him down and chops away, and CIMA armdrags him out of a criss-cross and gets a springboard dropkick that sends him to the floor. Ah, it’s a lumberjack match, okay. Back in, CIMA stomps a mudhole and slingshots in with a senton. Some of the babyfaces work Mochizuki over, but CIMA charges and misses badly, going flying over the top in the process and earning himself a beating from M2K outside. Back in, it turns into a big brawl with everyone involved, leading to a fun series of highspots with everyone teeing off on everyone else until the ref clears the ring again. Mochizuki gets a brainbuster for two. Big boot gets two. Mochizuki works the leg with a kneebar, but CIMA makes the ropes. CIMA tries a comeback, but gets slugged down and clotheslined for two. Suplex is reversed to a Michinoku Driver by CIMA, however. One of the heels throws powder in his face, however. Ah, the classics. He still manages a piledriver for two. BLIND, even. Another one is reversed and Mochizuki goes low and gets an enzuigiri, and everyone ends up on the floor. The heels all retreat to the dressing room, and Mochizuki goes after Dragon Kid, only to miss a high kick and hit the post. CIMA is left in the ring and makes the comeback, but Mochizuki recovers with the help of a drink tray. He gets it dropkicked back in his face, but Mochizuki returns the favor, however, and gets a brainbuster for two. CIMA goes low to block a kick combo and tosses the tray back at him, and gets a form of the Emerald Erosion for the pin at 15:42. This was all sorts of overbooked, but it was all in good fun. ***1/2 Thankfully the clippers are sharp, unlike most hair matches, and he’s bald in no time.

– G-1 Tag Semi-Finals: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima v. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi. Nagata trades wristlocks with Kojima to start and they slug it out. Neither guy budges until a high kick sends Kojima out for a breather. Back in, Tenzan walks into an overhead suplex that gets two. Nakanishi comes in but gets pounded, and they exchange shots until Tenzan uses the double chops to take over. Nakanishi sends him down with a forearm and drops a leg for two. Test of strength is won by Tenzan by booting him down and Kojima comes in with a senton and elbowdrop. They chop each other, which goes badly for Kojima, and Nagata kicks the shit out of him. He goes for the leg, but Kojima makes the ropes. Nagata stays on it and brings him into the corner for some double-teaming. Nakanishi stomps the crap out of the poor leg and headbutts him down into a half-crab. He’s a pretty intense guy. Nagata stays on the leg and kicks him down, but Kojima blocks a high kick with a legwhip and allows Tenzan back in. Leg lariat gets two. They slug it out and Tenzan wins that battle handily, and goes low with a headbutt. Snap suplex gets two. Tenzima work him over in their corner and Kojima gets a suplex for two. A cool double-team elbow/headbutt gets two for Tenzan. Tenzan clotheslines Nagata and sends him into a Kojima atomic drop, which sets up Tenzan’s flying headbutt for two. Love that double-teaming. Nagata blocks 3D and makes the tag to Nakanishi, who cleans house with clotheslines and a high knee for Tenzan. Is it me or does Nakanishi kinda look like Joe Millionaire? Torture Rack for Tenzan as Nagata takes out Kojima with the Nagatalock, but he can’t a submission and opts for a gutbuster that gets two instead. Now Tenzan is in trouble, as Nagata kicks away at him, but walks into a samoan drop. Kojima comes in with a flying elbow for two. Koji Kutter, but Nagata no-sells and fights back. Another one puts him down again, however. Nagata fights back again with a belly-to-belly and crossface, as the partners brawl outside and the crowd chants for Kojima. Tenzan finally makes the save, but Nagata hits an exploder suplex on Kojima and Nakanishi gets another Torture Rack. Kojima comes back with a Michinoku Driver, and a pair of lariats for the pin at 17:24. Well, that was kind of out of nowhere. ***1/2

– G-1 Tag finals: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima v. Mike Barton & Jim Steele. Mike Barton is of course the former Bart Gunn, and Jim Steele is the WCW reject of the same name. He’s also juiced to the gills and bears a vague resemblance to Chuck Palumbo with longer hair. You might be wondering what the hell Bart Gunn and Jungle Jim Steele are doing in the finals of a major tournament, and apparently they’re not supposed to be there – Masa Chono got a neck injury in the semi-finals against them and they had to book the finish on the fly and put them in the finals. Tenzan hammers away to start and grabs a headlock, but gets overpowered by Steele. Steele stomps him in the corner, but charges into a boot and gets hit with a double-chop off the second rope. Tenzan dumps him and suplexes him back in after a few false starts. Barton comes in and works the arm, but Kojima slugs away on him. Hiptoss and senton put Barton down and Kojima stomps him. Corner clothesline and Barton gets stuck in the wrong corner and worked over. Double-teaming the corner gets two. They miscommunicate and Tenzan clotheslines Kojima by accident, however, and Kojima seems to be YOUR face-in-peril. Steele gets a knee to the head for two. Necksnap and elbowdrop get two. Barton gets a couple of slams and three elbowdrops for two. Kojima fights back and gets slugged down with the LEFT HAND OF DEATH. He escapes a suplex and makes the tag to Tenzan, however. He cleans house and clotheslines Barton in the corner, and brings him down with a knee to the back that gets two. Barton comes back with a sideslam, however, that gets two. Kojima bails and Barton follows with a dive off the top onto both members of Tenzima. Back in, Steele gets two on Tenzan. They work Tenzan over in the corner and Barton chops away. Steele gets a sunset flip for two. Three corner clotheslines and a pair of DDTs and Tenzan is quite out. Another DDT for good measure gets two, as Kojima saves. Running powerslam gets two. Tenzan is just selling everything like nuts. Helicopter slam gets two. Kojima breaks up another try as Tenzan powers up and gets a samoan drop, and the hot tag to Kojima. Dropkick for Steele and a running forearm in the corner set up a flying elbow for two. They slug it out and Kojima gets an atomic drop, and a legwhip to take Steele down. Blind charge hits boot and Steele hits him with a flying shoulderblock, however. Barton comes in from the top, looking to finish with a flying splash, but it only gets two. Low blow and a nasty powerbomb get two. The crowd is just going batshit for Kojima. Barton charges and walks into a brutal lariat, and Kojima tags out to Tenzan again. He and Steele no-sell each other before a leg lariat puts Steele down for two. It’s BONZO GONZO and 3D on Barton takes him out of the equation, as Tenzan drops Steele on his head with a Michinoku Driver and moonsaults him for the pin at 24:00. HELL of a finish, as the match was looking to suck before Tenzan & Kojima just started selling their asses off until they got a great match out of them by sheer force of willpower. ****

– 2001 Real World tag finals: Toshiaki Kawada & Mitsuya Nagai v. Keiji Mutoh & Taiyo Kea. This tape had gone entirely too long without Kawada. Speaking of which, Kawada’s moveset is in Smackdown, but I can’t find a good CAW version of him, so if you’ve got one, send it. He and Mutoh fight over a lockup to start, but Mutoh no-sells a backdrop and gets a fast Shining Wizard and both are out already. Kea gets two. Speaking of Mutoh, I have found ANOTHER variation on the move in Smackdown (one in the corner) bringing the total to SEVEN now. Kea kicks away and gets a DDT for two. Kea works a headlock, but Kawada blocks a suplex with a high kick and then legsweeps him down. Nagai comes in and kicks the ugly off of Kea, and they trade kicks like a couple of f*cking MADMEN. That’s not enough violence, so they exchange forearms before going back to the kicks again, until Kea falls first. Nagai knees him in the corner and gives one to Mutoh as well. More high kicks for Kea put him down again and they fight over a german, which leads to Kea getting a dropkick. Mutoh comes in and dropkicks the knee a couple of times, and into the dragon-screws. Figure-four, but Nagai escapes and Kawada comes in with the headkicks, but Mutoh gets a handspring elbow and bulldog out of the corner. Shining Wizard is no-sold, but Mutoh blocks the enzuigiri and dropkicks the knee. Kawada gets another try at it, and Nagai comes in with the kicks again. He works on Mutoh’s leg with his own dragon-screws, but Mutoh returns fire and gets the figure-four while Kea keeps Kawada busy. Nagai makes the ropes, so Mutoh dropkicks the knee again and Kea comes in with a pump splash that gets two. Backdrop gets two. To the top and a flying splash gets two. Kawada saves, so Kea gets all in his face and superkicks him out of the ring. Oh, you’ll PAY for that. Mutoh gets a missile dropkick while Kea chases Kawada. Mutoh moonsault gets two, but Kawada saves again, allowing Nagai to take over. Kawada comes in kicks Mutoh in the face, but Nagai charges and hits elbow, and Mutoh goes back to working the knee again. Kea follows suit and gets a DVD for two, and then Kea & Mutoh double-team Kawada with a suplex. Nagai comes back with a german on Kea and everyone is out. Mutoh hits him with another Shining Wizard that f*cks up Nagai’s shit, and Kea gets a german suplex for two. Kea gets an enzuigiri and another try at the DVD, but Kawada breaks it up and everyone starts dropkicking everyone else’s knees. Wild. Kea adds one on Kawada from the second rope, and then goes to work on Nagai with chops and kicks. Shining Wizard gets two. Hawaiian Crusher gets the pin at 16:19. Kind of all over the place and not enough Kawada goodness. ***1/4

– Dick Togo, Gedo & Jado v. Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask & Great Sasuke. Jado overpowers Liger and a big brawl soon develops and the faces fire off highspots before heading back in again. Liger and Tiger Mask work Jado over in the corner and Sasuke hits the chinlock, but Gedo comes in and slugs away. Sasuke dumps and follows with a quebrada. Back in, Liger powerbombs him and goes to a camel clutch, but Togo breaks it up. Tiger Mask comes in and gets trapped in the heel corner, and Togo dropkicks him in the face and goes to work on the arm. TM comes back with a dropkick and chokes him down, but Togo makes the ropes. Liger works the knee with a spinning toehold, but Togo reverses for two. Sasuke gets a half-crab and Tiger Mask hooks a headscissors until Togo reverses and brings him back into the heel corner again. Jado chops away and they hit 3D on him for two. Gedo works him over in the corner and Togo goes for the mask (but then he’d just be TIGER!), but TM escapes and gets double-teamed by Jado & Gedo again. Backdrop suplex gets two. Togo comes in with a sleeper, which Liger breaks up, so Togo suplexes Tiger for two. Gedo gets a jawbreaker into a superkick for two. Tiger finally fights off Togo with a kick series and makes the hot tag to Liger. He goes up with a frog splash on Togo that gets two. Sasuke with a Buff Blockbuster for two. Sasuke gets a missile dropkick for two. Quebrada misses and Togo charges and ends up on the ramp, but Sasuke tries a dive onto him and misses, allowing Togo to suplex him onto the ramp in a sick bump. Back in, senton bomb gets two. Jado gets the crossface while Togo holds Tiger Mask back, but he fights him off and makes the save. Sasuke comes back with a handspring and Tiger comes off the top with a bodypress for two. Standing moonsault and he goes up again with a flying headbutt for two. He gets tripped up by the heels, however, and Togo gets a lariat. Gedo comes in for more damage, but gets caught with a backflip kick and a tiger suplex that gets two. Liger’s turn now, as he gets the running Ligerbomb for two. Jado clotheslines him and it’s BONZO GONZO as they start busting out the highspots and Gedo rolls up Liger for two. Liger hits him with a pair of palmstrikes and a brainbuster for the pin at 20:12. Solid formula six-man with a bit of an anticlimactic ending. ***3/4

– GHC title: Jun Akiyama v. Yuji Nagata. This is from a New Japan show, despite being for NOAH’s World title. Nagata’s takedown attempt is blocked to start, so he opts to assault Akiyama with kicks instead, sending him to the floor as a result. Back in, Nagata brings him to the mat and they reverse off a hammerlock for a bit until Nagata turns it into a chinlock and from there into an attempt at a cross-armlock that Akiyama fights off. They slug it out and Nagata wins with a high kick, setting up an Exploider battle and a Shining Wizard by Akiyama. Man, does EVERYONE in Japan use that now? Another Exploider is blocked by Nagata as he turns it into a guillotine choke, but of course it doesn’t get the submission because his mat-skills aren’t up to the high levels of someone like Undertaker. Piledriver and Nagata stomps away, and they slug it out again before Nagata piledrives him a second time. It gets two. Akiyama comes back with a dropkick and takes him to the ramp for his sick DDT onto the ramp spot, and then adds a tombstone piledriver on the floor, just because. Nagata waits out the count for a while and then heads back in and gets piledriven in dramatic, Orndorff-like fashion for two. Akiyama drops a knee and hits the chinlock, and that goes on for a while. High knee, but he can’t get a german suplex. Another run at Nagata results in him getting hit with a belly-to-belly suplex by Nagata, but he quickly comes back with a crossface. High knee and Akiyama goes up, but gets kicked coming down for two. Nagata gets his own crossface, but Akiyama makes the ropes. They slug it out and bitchslap each other, but Akiyama is fading fast. He gets a forearm and a suplex for two, however, before collapsing again. He gets his own guillotine choke on Nagata, and turns him over for two. Exploider is blocked by Nagata and a high kick gets two. Cross-armlock, but Akiyama makes the ropes. Enzuigiri and backdrop get two. Another enzuigiri is ducked by Akiyama, and a Michinoku Driver results in a double KO. Exploider gets two for Akiyama. Another one gets the pin at 19:57. Good stiff battle, but a bit slow. ***1/2

– Super Shisa, Kennichiro Arai & Ryo Saito v. Susumu Mochizuki, Genki Horiguchi & Darkness Dragon. This is from something called Rainbow Promotions, which I understand would be a cross-promotional thing. Saito takes Genki down to the mat to start and works the arm with a couple of surfboard variations, and they tag out. Dragon and Arai go next, and Arai no-sells some stomps before coming back with some headbutts that send Dragon bailing. Mochizuki and Saito do a nice criss-cross that leads to Mochizuki “surfing” him before Saito dropkicks him out. He goes after Super Shisa next, who springboards off his back and takes him down with a handstand Indian deathlock. That’s certainly unique. The faces work Mochizuki over in the corner and then get a triple-dropkick before Susuru goes low on Shisa to take over. Darkness Dragon hammers away in the corner and Mochizuki gives him the old rope-burn treatment (although you wouldn’t think it could do much damage with the mask in the way) and pounds away. Knee gets two. Ryo Saito comes in and gets elbowed by Dragon for two. Horiguchi suplexes him for two. Dropkick gets two. The heels keep him in the corner and take turns slamming him in a spot that’s simple and yet really funny for some reason. Maybe it’s the overblown delight they take in repeating the same simple move. Hart Attack gets two. Arai tries to save his partner and only allows him to get triple-powerbombed, for two. He comes back and it’s a pier-six brawl that sets up the old row-boat spot, with Shisa pinning Genki in the middle for two. Shisa heads out and headscissors Mochizuki out of nowhere in a slick spot, and Saito follows him out with a dive onto Darkness Dragon. Horiguchi gets a somersault plancha onto them, and Arai tries his own but slips on the ropes and doesn’t get all of it. Back in, Saito gets a rana on Mochizuki and a rolling Perfectplex for two. Oklahoma Roll into a half-crab, but the heels break it up. Mochizuki goes low and gets a rotation powerbomb for two. Arai charges Genki and gets DDT’d, and a springboard dropkick gets two. Whiplash slam is reversed by Arai, and he gets a jawbreaker and a powerbomb for two. He turns that pinning combo into a half-crab in a nice spot, but Darkness Dragon breaks it up and now it’s the battle of the masked men. Shisa rolls him up with a rolling reverse for two. Tumbling sequence leads to another rollup for two. Dragon gets an enzuigiri and a suplex for two. Shisa runs up the ropes but gets dropkicked coming down, and the heels take turns splashing him in the corner. Brutal double-team powerbomb gets two, as Mochizuki held him in a backbreaker position while Dragon came off the top rope and stomped him in mid-air. Mochizuki goes up, but takes too long and gets taken down with a rana, as Saito gets a german suplex on Horiguchi for two. Shisa gets a double-arm suplex into a handstand bridge for two. Arai dropkicks Mochizuki for two. Fast action here. Mochizuki keeps coming until he gets a lariat for two. Arai backslides him for two. Dragon with the Shining Black to set up a Mochizuki facecrusher for the pin at 16:24. Good inventive action, although it felt more like a teaching seminar than a real match. ***3/4

– Ryo Saito, Takayuki Yagi & Anthony W. Mori v. Milano Collection AT, Steve Tsujimoto & Masato Yoshino. This is from Toryumon 2000 Project (T2P). The hook here is that it’s a SIX-sided ring, which is a bizarre visual to say the least. A.T. takes down Saito to start and they trade headlocks, which Saito wins handily. A.T. takes him down with a CRAZY submission move, and Saito responds with a bow-and-arrow that gets two. A.T. with another couple of submission moves so bizarre that they’re hard to describe in time to keep up with the match, and he dropkicks Saito out to the floor. Yagi (dressed like a hillbilly) comes in and pounds on Tsujimoto (who’s dressed like Trent Acid) and overpowers him. Dropkick sends him out. Anthony (a Japanese preppie) takes Yoshino (Jungle boy) down with a series of armdrags, but gets caught with a variation on the Tarantula. A.T. and Tsujimoto work Mori over and get two. A triple-submission move results. It turns into another brawl and Saito bulldogs A.T., but Anthony can’t hold his leg submission move and A.T. rolls him over for two. The six-side ring comes into play now, as they do an intricate criss-cross sequence and the faces bail. Yagi gets hit with a triple version of 3D, and Yoshino gets another strange submission move, crossing the arms and hooking his feet around Yagi’s head for the submission at 8:35. I guess it’s elimination or lucha rules, because we’re still going. Saito attacks and gets sent into the corner by Mr. Collection, and everyone puts their submission moves on everyone else. Tsujimoto and Yoshino double-team Yagi, but he rolls through on Tsujimoto with Gedo’s old finisher. Anthony Mori breaks and goes after Yoshino with a bow-and-arrow, but Milan Collection gets another goofy submission hold. Saito breaks that and keeps trying for a half-crab before settling on a leglock while in piledriver position. Tsujimoto hits Mori with a neckbreaker for two. Mori superkicks him and bulldogs him for two. Tsujimoto uses some dance moves to take him down and stretch him, but Yagi comes in and slugs it out with Yoshino. Yoshino gets a Regal Stretch, but Yagi makes the ropes. A crazy Octopus variant on Yagi looks to finish, but he again escapes and boots Yoshino down for two. Backslide gets two. Twisting Perfectplex gets two. Milan Collection catches Saito coming in off the top, but gets kneed down. He comes back with a hammerlock submission, but Mori breaks it up. Mori gets dumped, but Yagi floats over on a suplex for two. Mori comes back in with a missile dropkick and Saito gets a german suplex for two. He fights off Yoshino, but gets dropkicked and then hit with a double-team suplex for two. Milan with two Lionsaults and yet another pretzel-like submission at 8:50. I guess it’s lucha rules where everything is 2/3 falls. The match was, shall we say, drastically different than you’re probably used to, based more on bizarre submission moves and the personalities, ala Matrats. I can’t rate it because I don’t have any reference to compare it to outside of that.

– Jushin Liger, Minoru Tanaka & Masahito Kakihara v. Koji Kanemoto, Gedo & Jado. Okay, now we’re back in friendly waters again where I actually know the rules and the people involved and stuff. Koji takes Tanaka down and kicks his ass to start, and Gedo joins in with a knee to the face. Jado chops away, but gets kicked down and Kakihara comes in with his own kicks. The faces work Jado over with some choking in the corner, thus intruding on Kanemoto’s territory, and Kakihara hits the chinlock. Liger tosses Jado and baseball slides him. Back in, a senton gets two. Tanaka gets a suplex for two, into a half-crab. Koji breaks that up and comes in for some punishment. High knee puts Tanaka down. He slugs him down and Gedo comes in, but gets taken back into the face corner and worked over. Kakihara gets a snap suplex for two. Kneebar is assisted by Liger with one of his own, and Tanaka adds a cross-armlock at the same time. You know, if I still held a grudge against Gedo, that’d be pretty sweet, but I’ve forgiven him ever since he cut his hair and started wearing real tights. Liger tries a suplex, but Gedo goes low to send him back into the evil corner and introduces him to the post. Back in, Koji with the overhead suplex and he stomps away, and back out goes Liger. The heels keep beating on him and Jado wraps the leg around the post, allowing Kanemoto to go to town on the knee. Koji is the king of smarmy heels. They all choke Liger out on the ropes and work over the knee with double-teams. Koji just absolutely stomps the shit out of Liger’s knee – sometimes the simple solutions are best – and pounds him into paste against the turnbuckles. Gedo chokes him down and blocks a charge with his feet, but Liger gets a backbreaker and makes the hot tag to Kakihara. Axe kick gets two. Hiptoss gets two. This guy is quite the badass. Speaking of which, Tanaka does some more choking in the corner and gets a dropkick and kneedrop. Kakihara kicks Gedo down into a Sharpshooter, but Kanemoto breaks it up. Gedo is tossed into the arms of Liger, who sends him into the crowd and piledrives him onto the floor. And then drops a table on him. That seems a bit excessive. It’s time like this that I wish Gedo wasn’t such a darn good worker these days, back when I could revel in his murder. Speaking of, back in Liger gets a powerbomb that lays Gedo out (while still selling the knee injury) and Tanaka steps on his face for two. Gedo falls back into the tag, however, and Jado takes care of the faces, triggering a big brawl outside that results in the heels getting revenge for Gedo. That’s so sweet. In the ring, Koji kicks Tanaka into next week and headbutts him down, as the heels take over again. Jado does some blatant choking behind the ref’s back (using both a piece of rope AND his feet on the ropes) and gets two. Gedo kicks Tanaka in the face with MALICE and does his own choking. Koji opts for the one-foot pinfall attempt, and that gets two. Jado gets a backdrop for two. Lariat gets two. Gedo misses a moonsault, and Liger gets the hot tag. Heel miscommunication allows him to DDT both Gedo & Jado at once, and he goes up for the frog splash on Gedo for two. Running Ligerbomb gets two. Kakihara comes in but gets tripped up right away, then recovers with a leg lariat on Jado for two. Jado takes him down with a crossface, however, while Gedo detains Liger. He makes the ropes. Kakihara rolls into a heel-hook, but Jado reverses to another crossface. This is like watching Angle-Benoit. Liger breaks it up to save. They exchange offense and both go down, but Kakihara tags in Tanaka, who promptly gets caught in an anklelock by Kanemoto. He makes the ropes. Koji blocks a high kick with a standing anklelock and wrenches it in, but Tanaka makes the ropes again. Tanaka rolls him up for two, and turns that into his own heelhook (you had to know Koji was playing with fire trying that stuff on Tanaka), but he makes the ropes. Jado steps in and powerbombs Tanaka into a Gedo frog splash, and Koji gets another anklelock, this time in the center. With everyone detained and nowhere to go, he taps at 30:00. Great submission reversals and badass heel work from Team Koji. ****1/2 Liger’s all “Get back in here you assholes”, and IT’S ON AGAIN. The bell is rung again and Koji goes back to pounding on Tanaka, as Jado trips him up for good measure. Moonsault and another heelhook, but Liger breaks it up. Gedo pounds on Liger in the corner and they do the powerbomb / splash combo on Tanaka again for two. The heels charge Tanaka in the corner and he moves, but Koji employs Plan B and kicks him in the face to stop that rally. Falcon Arrow gets two. Superbomb by Jado and Koji gets a wonderful moonsault for another pin at 2:54. Well, that should teach them a lesson about throwing out challenges. Not sure what the point of the extra session was, but it’s another three minutes of a great match, so why not?

– Hiroyoshi Tenzan v. Osamu Nishimura. They fight for a lockup to start and Tenzan opts for a test of strength instead. Nishimura takes him down with a facelock and Tenzan responds with his own. Back to the test of strength, this time won by Nishimura by rolling through it, and into a surfboard. Tenzan flips out of it, and we’re back to the test of strength again. Tenzan decides to go the easy route and kicks him in the gut to win, and goes to work on the arm. Nishimura reverses and takes him down, and they criss-cross into a dropkick by Nishimura. He tries a headlock, but gets suplexed by Tenzan right away. Tenzan knees him down and unleashes the CHOP OF DEATH, but Nishimura goes for the arm again. Headscissor takedown and Tenzan tries a headlock, but Nishimura goes back to the headscissors again, and into a short-arm scissors. Tenzan, surprisingly, breaks by making the ropes instead of powering him out ala Bob Backlund. Nishimura takes him down again with a headscissors. Tenzan opts for more old-fashioned violence to take over and slugs away in the corner. To the top for the knee to the back, which seemed a bit messed up. Snap suplex and he heads up again, but misses a splash and gets figure-foured by Nishimura. Tenzan rolls him over until they fall out of the ring, and pounds away on the floor having forced a break the hard way. Suplex back in is reversed to a rollup for two. Double-arm suplex gets two. Piledriver is reversed by Tenzan, but Nishimura bridges out of the pinning attempt into a backslide for two. Rollup gets two. Tenzan comes back with a samoan drop and a flying headbutt for two. Nishimura rolls through a slam for two, but misses a missile dropkick, allowing Tenzan to hammer him with lariats. Nishimura catches him with an abdominal stretch, but Tenzan reverses to a chokehold before Nishimura breaks free. Michinoku Driver gets two. Another one gets two. Buffalo sleeper finishes for Tenzan at 21:08. That did NOT feel like 20 minutes. Kept building and building really well, and I’m a fan of both guys. ****1/4

– Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru v. Jushin Liger & Waturu Inoue. Oooo, NOAH v. New Japan, Junior version. Liger’s team attacks to start and Liger pounds Kanemaru in the corner and tosses him. He follows with a baseball slide, and Inoue wallops him on the floor and sends him back in. Liger & Inoue do some double-teaming in the corner and Liger works on the leg (obviously in heel mode despite not having the EVIL BLACK COSTUME~!) and rubs his boot heel into the face. Maybe that’s where they got the terms from in the first place. Inoue gets a deathlock and slaps Kanemaru around, and when he fights back Liger comes in and pounds him, and the ref for good measure. EVIL LIGER~! Boston Crab by Inoue and Kikuchi makes the save, but that allows more shenanigans from the heels. Liger works a camel clutch (cackling evilly the whole time) and they stomp away in the corner. Inoue gets his own camel clutch and Liger rubs his boot in Kanemaru’s face again. TO EVIL! Liger comes in (drawing heel heat the whole time from the traditionally quiet Japanese crowd) but can’t get a brainbuster. Kanemaru unloads on Liger with forearms and makes the tag to Kikuchi, and he rolls up Liger for two. Running forearm sets up a moonsault, but it misses and Liger hits him with a Koppo kick and a particularly evil powerbomb. Inoue works a chinlock and overpowers the hometown hero, and goes back to the chinlock. To the floor, where Liger gets a powerbomb on the outside that is perhaps even more evil, followed by a diving kneedrop from Inoue. Kanemaru runs over to trigger a brawl, but he gets tossed into the crowd by Liger. Back in, Liger dropkicks the knee and gets a dragon-screw and figure-four. If he starts doing Shining Wizards, too, I quit. Kikuchi makes the ropes. Inoue stays on the knee with a Boston Crab, but Kikuchi makes the ropes again. Inoue spears him in the corner, into a suplex for two, but they reverse off a german attempt and Kikuchi makes the tag to Kanemaru. He CLOBBERS Inoue with forearms and pounds away with more fire than Test has ever shown in his career, and then goes after Liger with more of the same. Running elbow for Inoue and Kikuchi comes in with a Lionsault that misses, allowing Liger to come back in. Palmstrike and another one in the corner set up the Liger bomb for two. Liger’s arrogant heel mannerisms are just awesome. Fisherman’s buster gets two. He’s had enough now, so it’s time to finish, but that darn Kikuchi blocks it and goes low. Kanemaru comes back in with a cross-armlock and Liger’s overblown distress is hilarious. He makes the ropes, however. Kanemaru kicks him in the face a couple of times, but another palmstrike puts him down again. Tags all around and Inoue exchanges chops with Kikuchi before getting an Octopus. Kanemaru breaks that up, but Kikuchi blocks another suplex attempt, thus getting on Liger’s nerves. Kikuchi tries another lowblow, but Liger moves and it hits Kanemaru’s most favorite of muscles instead, and Inoue locks in a submission move on Kikuchi. Kanemaru breaks it up and gets a Blue Thunder Bomb to set up a flying splash by Kikuchi that gets two. Kikuchi goes up with a moonsault on Inoue for two. Crowd is absolutely batshit. Inoue rolls him up for two. Abdominal stretch rollup gets two. Kikuchi gets a brainbuster to finish at 17:38. Match of the Year Candidate, easily, and terrific fun all around. While not technically perfect, I had an absolute blast watching it, and that’s gotta count for something. ****3/4 A HUGE brawl erupts between the NOAH and NJ factions, and you just know this ain’t over.

– GHC Junior heavyweight title: Naomichi Marufuji v. Juventud Guerrera. From the same show, as we finish the tape at Feb 17 / 2002. Juvy shakes his hand to start, and then attacks from behind anyway. SPORTSMANSHIP~! Rolling suplexes into a brainbuster get two. He chops away in the corner and gets a corner clothesline, into an armbar takedown. Marufuji uses the hair to break and then opts for the ropes instead. Juvy goes back to the armbar, biting the fingers for good measure, and then grabs the leg to prevent him from reaching the ropes. That’s pretty smart. He stomps away on the arm and goes back to the armbar, adding a leg across the face for emphasis. Marufuji blocks a german and sends the Juice out, and then catches him with a sleeper on the way back in. They escape each others’ backdrop suplexes, and Juvy gets a dropkick for two. Marufuji rolls him up during a showboating session for two. Juvy goes back to the arm and stomps away, and they criss-cross into a Juvy hurricane DDT. That gets two. He goes to a legscissors and yanks on the arm some more, and they slug it out, which Juvy wins. He chokes away on the ropes, drawing no love from the crowd. Another criss-cross and another DDT from Juvy, but he charges into the corner and misses. Marufuji also charges, but he misses all the way to the outside, and Juvy snaps off a picture-perfect headscissor takedown on the outside. Back in, springboard elbowdrop gets two. He goes back to the armbar, but Marufuji escapes. He goes up for a dropkick, but Juvy catches him in a Boston Crab coming down. He releases it prematurely (that happens to a lot of guys his age) and heads up himself, but a rana attempt is countered with a powerbomb for two by Marufuji. Legdrop and chinlock by the champ follow. Juvy makes the ropes, and Marufuji pounds away in the corner and follows with a buttbutt. To the top, as Juvy blocks a rana attempt and follows him down with one of his own, sending Marufuji outside. Juvy necksnaps him on the way back in, but his suplex attempt is reversed, and they reverse each other until Juvy ends up on the apron and Marufuji dropkicks him off. He follows with a tope con hilo that gets MAJOR hangtime, and both guys are down and out. Back in, Marufuji heads up with a legdrop and dragon sleeper. Juvy makes the ropes. Marufuji keeps pounding in the corner and tries a tornado DDT, but gets blocked and sent to the floor. To the top and they battle for a superplex, which Juvy loses and ends up on the floor. Marufuji tries to follow him down, but gets kicked in the face midway there. Juvy seems recharged now, and they head back in, where he gets two. Torture rack into a powerbomb gets two. That’s like an inverted F5, actually. Call it the 5F, I guess. Guillotine legdrop gets two, as Juvy picks him up. Tiger Driver gets two, and he picks him up again. No one ever said Juvy was a brain surgeon. Marufuji cradles for two as Juvy gets too cocky, but quickly comes back and puts him down again. They head up and a top rope Drunk Driver is reversed at the last moment by Marufuji for two. He heads up himself but gets powerbombed, which is reversed to a rana for two, which is reversed to a sunset flip for two, which is reversed to a bridge, and Marufuji slugs him down and tries the Acid Drop, which Juvy reverses into the Drunk Driver. Holy CRAP what a great sequence. To the top to finish, but the 450 misses and a superkick sets up the Acid Drop for two. Thought that was the finish for sure. Marufuji hangs him in the Tree of Woe to set up a Van Terminator (which is probably the first they’ve seen of it over there) and they head up again, but Juvy escapes and heads down. Marufuji gets Rock Bottom and everyone is woozy, but he recovers with a superkick and gets an inverted Acid Drop, and then the standard version for the pin at 24:57. Awesome effort by both guys, as that was almost more of an American style cruiserweight match at times. ****1/2 Juvy does the show of respect, and then lays him out and steals the title, thus completely shocking the crowd. How can you not love this guy?

The Bottom Line:

Another great start to another great set, with a good mix of heavyweight stuff and juniors, and even a little of the weird in the form of T2P. Can the set hold up over 6 tapes? Stay tuned to find out over the weeks and months ahead, and check out www.goldenboytapes.com to order your own copy of the Best of Japan 2002, 6 tapes totaling 36 hours.