NJPW: WPW Super Grade + Norton Vs. Hase!

[Deleted]

New Japan Pro Wrestling Presents
Super Grade Tag League III
Taped:October 19th, 1993
Air Date: Whenever you trade for it
Hiroshima@Hiroshima Sun Plaza
Announcers: Riki Choshu & Hidekazu Tanaka

Not For TV:
Manabu Nakanishi defeated Jun Akiyama via pinfall off a German Suplex Hold at 8:32.

Tatsumi Fujinami, Osamu Kido & Black Cat defeated Ultimo Dragon, Haku & Gran Hamada when Fujinami pinned Dragon off a top rope diving knee drop at 10:34.

Strong Destruction (Shinya Hashimoto & Super Strong Machine) defeated Hiromichi Fuyuki & Tatsutoshi Goto when Hashimoto pinned Goto off a jumping brain buster at 13:54.

Televised Portion:

Show kicks off with Jr. Heavyweight action! It's a mild grudge match as IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion: Jushin "Thunder" Liger teams with "Lil' Nasty" Koji Kanemoto to face Shinjiro Ohtani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa! Back story is simple, Kanemoto is freshly turned baby face but Ohtani doesn't think he should be trusted.

Jr. Heavyweight Tag

Koji Kanemoto & Jushin Liger

Vs.

Shinjiro Ohtani & Tastuhito Takaiwa

Simple but effective story telling at the start with Ohtani & Takaiwa shaking hands with Liger but when its time to do the same with Kanemoto, OHTANI SLAPS THE TASTE OUT OF HIS FREAKING MOUTH! Liger restrains his partner before the bell. Once it sounds Kanemoto let's Ohtani freaking have it with one hell of a kick rush! The bout stays heated from that point on, but we do have a spot where Ohtani attempts to appeal to Liger about Kanemoto, but Liger isn't hearing any of it! Bout is clipped, but what makes it to TV is a lot of fun with a Liger dive to the floor off the top onto Takaiwa, and a terrific Ohtani springboard spin wheel kick to Kanemoto making the cut. First near fall comes off a Liger Bomb to Ohtani, but Takaiwa is there for the save. Second major near fall see's Takaiwa use the Death Valley Bomb (Driver) for the very first time to nearly put Kanemoto away, only for Liger to save at the very last second! Finishing sequence is pretty awesome as Ohtani opts to slap an out of it Kanemoto around, only to lit a fire under his arise as Kanemoto responds with kick after kick, after kick before dropping Ohtani on his head with a release Tiger Suplex! Liger takes out Takaiwa as Kanemoto QUICKLY locks in a key lock for the quick submission!! Was told this match was freaking awesome live!

Your Winners: " Jushin Liger & Koji Kanemoto via submission at 16:56 (7 air). "

More Jr stuff, this time with highlights of a recent Michinoku Pro main event that saw Delfin-gun (Super Delfin & Jinsei Shinzaki who also is a regular here in NJPW) steal a win over Great Sasuke & NJPW's own El Samurai when Los Amigos leader: Ultimo Dragon made a surprise appearance taking out Samurai leading to Shinzaki scoring the pin off a praying power bomb!

*Clip*

Backstage with Delfin, Ultimo, Shinzaki & some of Delfin's heel army a proud Delfin announces that LOS AMIGOS HAVE JOINED DELFIN GUN! Ultimo cuts him off and says DELFIN GUN HAS JOINED LOS AMIGOS! They bicker back and forth, in total comedic fashion before we cut away and to..

Great Sasuke & El Samurai! Sasuke swears revenge and breaks the news that he is coming to Power Struggle to team with Samurai & Kanemoto against Delfin, Dragon & Shinzaki!

Before our first Super Grade Tag League bout, we are taken to the recent Power Struggle '93 press conference where it was announced that former IWGP Heavyweight Champion: Shinya Hashimoto will be receiving his rematch for the title (against either Hase or current Champion Tenryu depending on the main events outcome) Hashimoto briefly speaks about bouncing back from his loss and how proud he is to headline the Dome for the second straight year, but gets cut off by an upset: Hiro Saito! Saito says its time for new blood on top, calling Hashimoto a failure and the reason why NJPW lost its main title to an outsider! He's calling for Tenzan to challenge at the Dome! Hash lets him say his piece, then ask NJPW to book the match for the shot..TENZAN VS. HASHIMOTO for the Dome title shot with Hashimoto leaving us with a bad ass comment. " Saito-son you bring your young lion, and I will DESTROY him just like I always do! I WILL REGAIN WHAT WAS TAKEN FROM ME NO MATTER WHO DARES TO CHALLENGE!"

From there we are shown highlights of the JJ Jacks run of bad luck as they have yet to get on the board throughout league competition. An interview with the duo has them confident about tonight's bout with Ookuma Gundan, with a pumped up Akira Nogami stating that its now or never for the duo!

Super Grade Tag League Official Match

JJ Jacks (Akira Nogami & Takayuki Iizuka) 0 Pts.

Vs.

Ookuma Gundan (Hiro Saito & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) 3 Pts.

JJ Jacks officially have no shot of winning the league with this being their sixth match and they've yet to score. But still they are motivated to NOT finish at zero and it shows. Extremely competitive match up here with the crowd really getting into the near falls at the end, the first being Tenzan hitting his splash mountain (high angled Samoan drop) on Nogami with Iizuka saving just in the nick of time. We get a major miscue, continuing the tension brewing within the Jacks as Iizuka accidently takes out Akira with a lariat leading to our finish as Saito heads up top... BUT misses with his trademark senton! Tenzan tries to get involved but is cut off by Iizuka and they tumble to the floor! Akira acts quick with a fall away slam before heading up top himself..

Musasabi Press (superfly splash) connects!!!!!!!

1..

2...

Iizuka holds off Tenzan..

3!!!! JJ Jacks with a much needed win over a rather dominant duo!!!!

Your Winners: " JJ Jacks in 12:48 (10 shown) via pinfall."

Post Match- Celebration is pretty huge and includes them going into the crowd and exchanging hugs and kisses with some of the female fans! Talk about an upset!

From there it's time for our next Super Grade bout as the IWGP tag team champions are in action against the long shot duo of Yuji Nagata & El Samurai!

Super Grade Tag League Official Match

King's Road (Johnny Ace & Steve Williams) 2 Pts.

Vs.

El Samurai & Yuji Nagata 0 Pts

Its an all out squash with Samurai never even getting officially tagged in. Finish comes at the 3 minute mark with Ace hitting an Ace Crusher on Nagata and Williams taking out Samurai on the apron with a shoulder tackle. Are champs pick up two points and look strong as they head into Power Struggle and face off against the Hell Raisers!

Your Winners: " King's Road in 3:23 via pinfall."

Extended Ad Break

We're back and it's with a look at "The Diamond Studd" Scott Hall using footage from WCW, with Hall mixing it up with the Road Warriors & Barry Windham, as well as a few jobbers here and there. The tag line is "The Studd DEBUTS at POWER STRUGGLE!" and he's RIGHT into the mix of things as he'll be facing off against Tatsumi Fuijnami! With that we're taken to THESE pre-recorded words from the soon to be debuting (actually returning, but shh) "Diamond Studd.

Diamond Studd: " Davey Metlzer says NJPW is the place where stars are made, and me? I'm shining bright mang... but I've gotta shine brighter... NJPW calls itself the KING of SPORTS.. (laughs to himself) Me... I wanna be king, chico... see i see things, tapes here and there... and i hear things... and if THIS really is the place to be, THEN THIS IS THE PLACE THE STUD BELONGS CHICO! Be warned NJPW, 'cause DA BAD GUY is coming, and I'm shooting for the top mang... THE VERY TOP. "

With that we've got a RUN DOWN of the entire POWER STRUGGLE EVENT...

Power Struggle 93 Line Up

Before our final Super Grade Tag League Bout: Hell Raisers Vs. Musketeers, we catch up with BOTH teams starting with the Hell Raisers. Sasaki is very respectful, but Awesome? He's dropping F Bombs left and right. The jist is the Raisers blame Chono for allowing Fuyuki to break up BNJPW, they'll team with them BUT tonight they've got a shot at REVENGE against Muto & Chono.

Masahiro Chono & Keiji Muto speak next, nothing really note worthy to report other then Chono claims they'll outsmart the Hell Raisers.

Super Grade Tag League Official Match

The Hell Raisers (Power & Awesome Gladiator) 6 Pts.

Vs.

The Musketeers (Masahiro Chono & Keiji Muto) 4 Pts.

The Hell Raisers are in the lead thus far, without facing a single loss in league action yet. Chono & Muto are hot on there tale. This is perhaps one of the bigger match ups of the league. It's fun, a real spring with the Hell Raisers bullying at points, but Chono & Muto drawing from the crowd to make a big time comeback here and there. Some pretty fun stuff with Awesome diving over the top rope out onto the floor to take out Muto. Chono gets a near fall off a hangspring elbow/yakuzi kick combo on Power. Power nearly puts Muto away off a power slam but Chono is there to save.

Power has the arm worked over throughout, but till keeps on trying with that lariat, this leads to Muto blocking an attempt and quickly going for a rana but only earning two.

The finish? Awesome hoist Muto up into the air for an Awesome Bomb, BUT CHONO BREAKS IT UP WITH A YAKUZA KICK! Backslide from Muto on the dazed Awesome...

1...

2...

Sasaki (Power) tries to break but is cut off by Chono...

AND MUTO & CHONO TIE THE HELL RAISERS, AND FUJINAMI/KIDO FOR FIRST PLACE WITH A HUGE VICTORY HERE IN HIROSHIMA!

Your Winners: " Keiji Muto & Masahiro Chono in 17:54 (12 air) via pinfall. "

From there we take a look at our point totals thus far...

Point Totals For Thus Far

Original Sekigun (Tatsumi Fujinami & Osamu Kido) (3 Matches) 6 Pts.
The Musketeers (Masahiro Chono & Keiji Mutoh) (4 Matches) 6 Pts.
Hell Raisers (Power & Awesome) (4 Matches) 6Pts.
King's Road (Johnny Ace & Steve Williams) (3 Matches) 4 Pts.
Ookami Gundan (Hiro Saito & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) (3 Matches) 3Pts.
Strong Destruction (Shinya Hashimoto & Super Strong Machine) (2 Matches) 3 Pts.
Fuyuki-gun A Team (Scott Norton & Tatsutoshi Goto) (2 Match) 2Pts.
Transcending Power (Masa Saito & Manabu Nakanishi) (2 Matches) 2 Pts.
JJ Jacks (Akira Nogami & Takayuki Iizuka) (6 Matches) 2 Pts.
Yuji Nagata & El Samurai ( 3Matches) 0 Pts.


*UPDATE*

Flashes across the screen as we've got clips of Masahiro Chono pulling up to the Power Struggle press conference, where as he exits his car and cameras go off he's JUMPED FROM BEHIND BY HIROMICHI FUYUKI & SATOSHI KOJIMA! It's A WILD BRAWL with his former stable mates busting him wide open. FINALLY from inside the conference, Keiji Muto & The Hell Raisers come outside & FUYUKI & KOJIMA BAIL to a car with Goto driving and speeding off! And THAT'S WHY THE NO DQ was signed fans!

*CLIP*

To Chono as he's being stitched up PROMISING TO END FUYUKI come Power Struggle!

Before tonight's main event of No.1 Contender to the IWGP Heavyweight Title: Hiroshi Hase facing off against Scott "Flash" Norton we catch up with both men.. Hase's up first as he explains that by beating the much larger Norton here tonight, he will prove to Tenryu that he's no joke and has what it takes to win the IWGP heavyweight championship. Norton speaks next, promising to SQUASH Hase like a bug and show everyone that HE SHOULD BE CHALLENGING FOR THE IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE, not Hase. He also reminds everyone just how close he was to winning the Greatest 18 Championship in the past.

TV Main Event
NON-TITLE

Greatest 18 Champion: "The Golden Lights" Hiroshi Hase

Vs.

Scott "Flash" Norton (Fuyuki-gun)

Joined just as the bell sounds. The story of the match is pretty simple, Hase keeps going for the Golden Armed Bomber (Ura-nage) but Norton's just too f'n big and keeps elbowing his way free as Hase strains to get him up. Hase switches gears and begins to work the big man's legs, but Norton's in no mood as he keeps battling back from underneath, slowly but surely working over the back of Hase with a bear hug and a few back breakers. Crowd is SUPER into Hase as per usual, chanting his name as he's locked in another bear hug. Hase battles free to a huge reaction and CONNECTS with a JUMPING KENKA kick once freed! He sets up for another BUT NORTON CATCHES HIM WITH A POWER SLAM ON THE REBOUND!

1..

2..

KICK UP JUST BEFORE 3!!

Power bomb is teased next but Hase is able to fight it off and back drop his opposition over. Figure four gets locked in moments later but Norton is eventually able to turn it around and get to the ropes forcing a break.

Norton dominants again BUT HASE CATCHES HIM OFF THE ROPES WITH AN OUT OF NOWHERE URA-NAGE!! BUT HE CAN'T COVER AS HE HOLDS AT HIS BACK... Hase eventually crawls over and covers..

1...

KICK UP!!!!

Hase's GONNA TRY AGAIN... HERE IT COMES SECOND GOLDEN ARMED BOMBER... NO NORTON ELBOWS HIS WAY TO FREEDOM! Knee to the back! One to the gut... He's got him in position POWER BOMB CONNECTS!!

1...

2...


WHAT???

3!!!! 3!!! 3!! SCOTT NORTON HAS DEFEATED HIROSHI HASE JUST WEEKS AWAY FROM HASE'S SHOT AT THE IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP! NORTON HAS PINNED THE GREATEST 18 HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION! YOU GOTTA FIGURE HE'S IN LINE FOR A TITLE MATCH AS A RESULT, OR HELL IF... AND IT'S A BIG IF... IF HASE WINS THE IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR SCOTT NORTON?

Your Winner: " Scott Norton in 21:11 via pinfall. "

Norton celebrates his win as Hase is checked on. We RECAP the entire night, with Riki Choshu letting us all know his money WAS on Hase at Power Struggle, but NOW, he's gotta give it to Tenryu, but hey he could be wrong. And THAT'S ALL FOR NOW.

[Deleted]

Scott Norton finally shines here, moving towards the top of the singles rankings. He had that good tag team run with Bigelow and then they had their match and he seems to have been treading water since in some ways (which is not a negative because it at least keeps him stationary in the ranks), but this win really put him at another level. For whatever reason, 1 of your biggest strengths with foreigners is emphasizing the size difference when there and getting that across, no matter who it is. Norton, Bigelow, Gordy, Williams, Awesome, hell I think you could get Giant Gonzalez over based on that alone and make him an entertaining read. While normally a contender losing their last match on TV right before a shot at the main title can be grounds for criticism, I think in this case it makes perfect sense. It adds a new level of intrigue where Norton is probably getting a title match with Hase, but it could be for a bigger prize and some fans can see that as setting up a contender for when Hase wins the IWGP title and become more certain of a title change with this.

The tag team semi main or whatever to call it, also really good. 1 of the highlights of the tournament and it is why notes are so damn important because I never even clued in on the connection of Chono and The Hell Raisers having very recently been stable mates until I read it here. I really should have, just slipped my mind, but it added another level to this match beyond what was already there of a top team vs the champions, and the tournament standings. Probably 1 of the bigger non title matches you can get actually. Not sure if it gets revisited later, but you definitely used a result that could do just that.

The JJ Jacks finally get a win, although looking at the standings, really have to wonder who they pissed off to get 6 matches over the first 6 days while no others have more than 4 and most have 2 or 3. No wonder they are doing so poorly lol. Fujinami and Kido at 6 pts through 3 surprises me just because I did not even notice they were doing that good. A match in hand on both The Musketeers and Hell Raisers, they are looking good here.

Some good non wrestling stuff here too. Hall could to do some great things here. The Los Amigos and Delfin Gun bit was a good sign of what is to come with their relationship. The press conference bit with Hashimoto agreeing to put up the Dome shot against Tenzan, I think that has been played really well. Hashimoto seems to be struggling a little here and there as of late and now he goes and does that. Losing it could be what finally puts him over the edge, while winning could be the big win he needs to start the road to the title shot. Great time to do it with 2 months left to go, with enough time to tell a story before you get there with either result.

Another great show. Goes without saying at this point.

[somethingsavage]

Yup. What he said.

I'd add that I really enjoyed your opener here. Ya did some neat things in the dynamic with Kanemoto and Liger. The whole trust issue allowed ya to play it up a bit & tell a fun story for such a short match. Koji blazing back into the fiery finish was a nice way to cap it all off.

Very much looking forward to the angle with Michinoku Pro also. Not sure where it's all leading, whether it's a long-term deal or just a quick one-off, but I'm buying in. Entertaining little segment to intro it here, as the comedic stuff with Los Amigos and Delfin ties it together just right for me.

Stoked about something being done with Hashimoto again, pressing forward. As JP noted, his upcoming match result could realistically go EITHER WAY and turn out beneficial to him in the long run, so I can't wait to see what direction ya ultimately take it. If he wins, it'll sharpen his edge. If he loses, it could send him OVER the edge. Either way, I'm on board.

Didn't see JJ Jacks wrapping up their losing streak already, but okay. I'm cool with it. There was only so much mileage to get out of it anyhow. Wondering just where the teased tension bit is going though.

Simple formula for King's Road here, but hey. It works. If it ain't broke...

Awesome promo from the Diamond Studd as well. Absolutely cannot wait to have him here on a regular basis.