NJPW 04/29/96: Nobuhiko Takada vs. Shinya Hashimoto
This represents everything that is great about "big fight feel" w/ 65,000 fans going crazy for their ace beating the shoot style invader to restore the honor of the biggest prize in the company, IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Masterclass of a performance by Hashimoto - I think Takada could've done a bit of a better job in selling & some of his "big" submissions could've been executed better emotionally, but Hash more than made those work with his amazing selling, emotion & perfect work on the offense. Those damn comebacks. Those. DAMN. COMEBACKS! One of the best Dome matches ever. ****3/4
NJPW 09/23/81: Andre The Giant vs. Stan Hansen
I've always thought of this match as a response to the question of "what would happen if King Kong met Godzilla?" - such a wild one, it was; the psychology of Andre trying to completely neutralize Hansen's lariat-arm was fantastic - he worked it over precisely & viciously, and Hansen's selling was superb. Hansen's overall fighting from underneath performance was just terrific stuff. Both men were simply on point & produced magic to the maximum w/ their pairing. ****1/2
NJPW 06/11/96: Black Tiger vs. Wild Pegasus
This has always been one of my favorite NJPW junior heavyweight matches, but as of this, the latest watching of it, it is THE favorite of mine. Some very good, very grounded work to start off things - after the first third, what would become the big story of the match kicks in; Benoit's tight Sleeperhold. He makes it look about as vicious as a Sleeperhold can look in a pro wrestling match - Eddie's hope spots get the crowd going, and the way Benoit cuts him off just at the perfect times to get heat on him is simply masterful. My favorite part of the match is when Eddie gets his first somewhat extended comeback in after the Sleeperhold festival began, and just when the crowd is going crazy for his energetic, highflying offense, Benoit cuts him off & puts on that tight ass sleeper once again to big time boos by the crowd. Absolutely brilliant. Eddie's selling of the whole thing is rock solid, too; he would look all dizzy & tired while getting his stuff in. They bring out the big bombs in the finishing stretch, and there's some really great storytelling in there, too with Benoit kicking out of all of Eddie's signature moves (Frog Splash, Black Tiger Bomb) - which meant Eddie had to bust out something real big to get the job done, and that he sure did with that Super Brainbuster. A masterpiece. *****
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