New Japan TV 9-23-93 Big 10-man tag team main event!

[Chitohausen]

Sanctioned by International Wrestling Grand Prix; Seiji Sakaguchi, president


Airs across Japan on Saturday, September 23, 1993 on:


TV Asahi


Taped on September 20, 1993 at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan



Announcers: Kenji Wakabayashi and Kotetsu Yamamoto
Ring Announcer: Hidekazu Tanaka
Referees: Red Shoes Unno, Tiger Hattori and Kyohei Wada



KENJI WAKABAYASHI and KOTETSU YAMAMOTO open the show.

They welcome us to this week’s episode of Asahi TV’s “World Pro-Wrestling”!

The last several weeks of TV were highlight shows from the “G1 Climax” tour, but now we’re back to usual shows!

Today, we’ll see Masahiro Chono face young lion Satoshi Kojima!

Two of the top American wrestlers here in New Japan square off, as Scott Norton meets Dan Spivey!

Stan Hansen meets Yoshiaki Yatsu, from All Japan Pro Wrestling!

And, the huge feature bout, it’s New Japan vs All Japan: Total War! A best two out of three falls match. On the All Japan side, we’ll have Mitsuharu Misawa, Genichiro Tenryu, Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue and Kenta Kobashi. Their opponents representing New Japan will be Tatsumi Fujinami, Riki Choshu, Hiroshi Hase, Akira Nogami and Takayuki Iizuka!


MASAHIRO CHONO defeats SATOSHI KOJIMA. Kojima, though inexperienced, shows his fighting spirit here, as he takes a beating from Chono, but keeps battling back! As we near the 9-minute mark, Chono locks Kojima in the STF, right in the middle of the ring, and that’s all she wrote for Kojima, as he has no choice but to submit.


SCOTT NORTON defeats DAN SPIVEY. We’ve got ourselves a Hoss fight here, between these two big, mean Americans! Before the start of the G1 Climax, we saw these two men involved in a series of tag team matches, as Norton and Hercules Hernandez, the Jurassic Powers, met Spivey and Stan Hansen. Those matches were all-out wars, and saw the Jurassic Powers beat Hansen and Spivey to win the vacant IWGP tag team titles. The champions’ first defense was against Hansen and Spivey on the last show of the G1 Climax tour, and saw them battle to a wild double count-out!

Today, Norton and Spivey go one on one. They throw scientific wrestling right out the window, and resort to power moves and brawling! Spivey shows that he’s one of the few men in NJPW that can match Norton’s power, and neither man can really get much of an advantage throughout the match.

Spivey manages to gain the upper hand late in the match, and he sets Norton up for a Powerbomb. Norton backdrops Spivey though, and when Spivey gets back to his feet and charges at Norton, Scott connects with a thunderous Powerslam for the 1, 2, 3!


STAN “THE LARIAT” HANSEN defeats YOSHIAKI YATSU (AJPW). Next up is Spivey’s tag team partner Stan Hansen, facing All Japan’s Yoshiaki Yatsu! Hansen has a better outcome than Spivey, as he nearly takes Yatsu’s head off with a vicious Lariat for the 1, 2, 3 at the 12-minute mark!


We see a long video package, highlighting the ongoing war between New Japan and All Japan Pro Wrestling. We see footage of New Japan wrestlers showing up earlier in the year in All Japan.

We see clips of Tatsumi Fujinami defeating Mitsuharu Misawa in their Champion Carnival match, with Fujinami eventually winning the entire tournament, and we see him being awarded the trophy.

From there, we jump ahead to the All Japan wrestlers responding in kind, showing up in the audience of a New Japan show, then coming into the ring to confront the New Japan stars!

We see footage of the All Japan wrestlers in the G1 Climax, focusing on Mitsuharu Misawa, who defeats Keiji Mutoh to win the tournament! This moves Misawa right to the top among the names of top contenders to Mutoh’s IWGP title!


Now, it’s time for the main event, it’s TOTAL WAR!!!!

For the match, the commentary team is joined by the living legend himself, Antonio Inoki.


NJPW VS AJPW, TOTAL WAR!
BEST 2 OUT OF 3 FALLS:
ALL JAPAN: MITSUHARU MISAWA & GENICHIRO TENRYU & TOSHIAKI KAWADA & AKIRA TAUE & KENTA KOBASHI defeat NEW JAPAN: TATSUMI FUJINAMI & RIKI CHOSHU & HIROSHI HASE & AKIRA NOGAMI & TAKAYUKI IIZUKA. The tension is thick here, as the two sides jaw back and forth with each other during the introductions. On commentary, Inoki says that these All Japan wrestlers have shown absolutely no respect to the New Japan stars since they arrived here, and that doesn’t sit well with him!

Fall #1: Each fall has a 20-minute time limit, and the first fall goes almost that entire limit, although it’s edited for television. All ten men get their chance to shine in this first fall, and as we come up on the 19-minute mark, Akira Taue nails Iizuka of the J-J-Jacks with the Nodowa Otoshi for the 1, 2, 3!

Fall #2: During this fall, on commentary, Inoki says that he’s going to be starting his Retirement Countdown Series soon, and will be issuing challenges to the very best wrestlers in Japan to face him as part of that series.

All Japan continues to control most of this fall, after winning the first, and it looks like they might take this one in two straight! However, Tatsumi Fujinami has other ideas. As we near the 15-minute mark of this second fall, Fujinami gains the upper hand on Genichiro Tenryu, and eventually locks him in the Dragon Sleeper for the submission!

We’re all tied up at one fall apiece!

Fall #3: Both sides kick it into high gear here, knowing that it’s do or die time now! The momentum goes back and forth, neither team can really gain a clear advantage. Around 10 minutes in, Kenta Kobashi has the upper hand on Iizuka, but Takayuki tags out to his partner in the J-J-Jacks, Akira Nogami. Nogami and Kobashi tear into each other, tooth and nail! Kobashi gets the better of the exchange, and after wearing Nogami down, Kobashi connects with a Moonsault for the 1, 2, 3!

The All Japan team has won this 2 out of 3 falls match!

There’s more jawing back and forth afterwards, which leads to some shoving, but several young lions and other preliminary wrestlers arrive to break things up.

At that point, Antonio Inoki leaves his seat at the broadcast desk, and heads to the ring! Inoki climbs into the ring and asks for a microphone.

Inoki says that these All Japan wrestlers have shown no respect to this promotion or it’s wrestlers, and he wants to put them in their place . . . and the best way to do that is to beat the Ace, Mitsuharu Misawa!

Inoki challenges Misawa to face him in the first match of Inoki’s Retirement Countdown series, on November 20 at Korakuen Hall!

Misawa accepts, and says that he’ll cement his legacy in wrestling by beating the legend Antonio Inoki!


Wakabayashi and Yamamoto wrap things up. Next week, we’ll finish the month of September at Yokohama Arena for a big event! On that show, Jushin Liger will defend the IWGP junior heavyweight title against All Japan’s Ultimo Dragon! Tatsumi Fujinami will go one on one with Toshiaki Kawada! Keiji Mutoh’s demonic alter-ego the Great Muta will be in action! And, in the main event, Mitsuharu Misawa meets Riki Choshu!


Credits Roll