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JUN.19.2020

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The Week that Was in NJPW World History (June 13-19)

Nothing could have made us happier than NJPW’s return to action this week. Live action back on the NJPW World calendar is a sight for sore eyes, but there’s still a lot to get excited about in the archives, as we see with our weekly look back at the week in history. 

June 13, 1994: Jyushin ‘Delfin’ Liger

One of the most intriguing on again off again junior rivalries of the 1990s was Super Delfin and Jyushin Thunder Liger’s in ring meetings. 

Delfin had toiled for a number of years in Mexico before returning to Japan for the Great Sasuke’s Michinoku Pro promotion. A strong talent who was just waiting for a light to be shone on him, he was the perfect entrant for Jyushin Thunder Liger to call into the Super J Cup in 1994. He instantly gained a following, not just for his in ring ability, but charisma, and ability to wrestle tough matches without taking the whole process too seriously. 

Delfin would often get under the skin of his opponents, and he certainly would with Liger. This was the case in the final of the first ever Best of the Super Juniors. Liger and Delfin had topped the single block league, sending both to the Osaka finals. Both men could make history as the inaugural BOSJ winner, but Delfin wanted to poke the bear that was Liger on his way to doing it. His half Liger mask and Liger inspired body suit were designed to draw a reaction, and Liger would certainly aggressively pursue his masked opponent. 

Who’d come out on top? Relive the match on NJPW World to find out!

June 15, 1993: A Sinister Summit

New Japan wrestlers have a history of standing in American rings, often as a learning step on their path out of the Dojo and toward more global recognition when returning to Japan. Of all the names that underwent international excursions to America, though, none were more successful, or gained more notoriety than Keiji Muto.  

Muto left NJPW to head to America in the late 1980s as a handsome blue chip prospect, but when wrestling in NWA rings, he fell under the spell of the Great Kabuki. Kabuki got his start in the original JWA promotion before his time in the 1970s in Japan was mainly spent in All rather than New Japan. It was in 1981 though where he made a move that gained him his notoriety, beginning to ply his trade in World Class in Texas, and gaining a sinister, poison mist spewing persona. 

When Muto began working for Jim Crockett in 1988, without another ally to support him, Kabuki took the young star under his wing, and taught him the dark arts. Adopting Muto as if he were his son, Kabuki turned the handsome, young, smooth moving firebrand into a terrifying man with staccato, violent motions and potential for true evil; the Great Muta.

On Muto’s return to Japan in 1990, he was at emotional war with his former self, flitting between the adored Muto and the fearsome Muta. Muta was dark and frightening, but got the job done; in the Tokyo Dome in January 1993, Muta unified the NWA and IWGP Heavyweight Championships when he defeated Masahiro Chono. Yet this was in a period of flux and promotional warfare, and Muta would have to come to terms with wrestling his father figure. 

New Japan had a new rival in the form of Genichiro Tenryu’s promotion WAR, and the straw that stirred the drink in the feud were the Heisei Ishingun. Headed by Shiro Koshinaka, it was a group comprised of both WAR and New Japan talent that played both ends of the battle. In May, Kabuki would wrestle Muta at a WAR event, a bloody battle that ended in disqualification.

Kabuki would get on the microphone after the match was thrown out and yell ‘My son! I will kill you!’ which brought us to the Nippon Budokan on June 15.  What followed is not for the faint of heart.

Relive the match here!

 

June 17, 1996: Skydiving-J

The junior heavyweight wrestling boom, ignited by Jyushin Thunder Liger and contemporaries, would arguably reach its peak in 1996. The Super J Cup in 1994, and the inaugural Best of the Super Juniors that same year showed that junior heavyweights could impress thew world and fill buildings; moreover, junior heavyweight champions from around the world all wanted to show their worth on the grandest stage of New Japan Pro Wrestling. 

This would lead to The Skydiving-J, a special event in the Nippon Budokan consisting of eight junior heavyweight singles matchups, all for different championships, from the British Commonwealth to the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championships. Later in the summer, these eight titles would be folded into one, as a tournament with all titles on the line would decide the holder of the first J-Crown. 

In the meantime, one of the highlights of the Skydiving-J saw the UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship defended by Shinjiro Otani against Kazushi Sakuraba. Before becoming a hall of fame level MMA competitor, Sakuraba’s roots were in pro wrestling, for UWFi. UWFi and NJPW were at loggerheads ever since the prior autumn, and that interpromotional war added another layer to what already promised to be a technical classic. 

Relive the match here!

June 18, 2011: No Fixing This

Tetsuya Naito will always go down in history as the very first dual IWGP Intercontinental and Heavyweight Champion. That isn’t the first time he made hsitory with a dual title feat, though; to find the first you have to go back in time a decade. 

NO LIMIT formed in 2008 when Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi were in their post Young Lion ascent. The two men shared a common drive, and with Naito’s athleticism and Yujiro’s strategic smarts (and passion for dance music. Takahashi came up with the team concept and the use of the famous entrance theme; years later Naito was unsure which idea came first) saw them to the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. 

After their reign ended, NO LIMIT went on excursion together to America and Mexico, before their return to Japan. There, they did what only the Young Bucks were able to achieve since in adding IWGP Tag Team Championships to their collection. Joining the formidable force of CHAOS,  NJPW’s first team to ever go from junior to heavyweight tag champions seemed unstoppable, but singles opportunities awaited for Naito. 

2010 saw Naito embroiled in a series of four thrilling singles bouts with Hiroshi Tanahashi that firmly put him on the map as a singles player in New Japan. Perhaps motivated by jealousy, or perhaps out of concern for his tag team’s win/loss record with a partner spread too thinly, Yujiro was critical of Naito’s activities. As NO LIMIT’s win loss record started to take a turn for the worse, Yujiro was ever more vocal, with a Dontaku failed challenge to champions Bad Intentions  the last straw. Yujiro conspired with the Complete Players of Masato Tanaka, Jado and Gedo, and booted Naito from CHAOS late in May. 

A furious Naito, booted from the powerful CHAOS force, sought revenge at Dominion in Osaka, but Yujiro had other plans…

Relive the match here!

June 19, 2005 Tiger Does the Double

From a historic double champion tag team to a historic double tournament winning singles star as Tiger Mask made history this week in 2005. The 2004 est of the Super Junior winner was looking for his second straight, but had to do it against some tough competition. 

The three top competitors in B block that year were Tiger Mask as defending champion, the experienced trickster Gedo, and Wataru Inoue, who was now truly finding  a prominent spot in a competitive landscape. As evidence, Inoue scooped victory over both Gedo and Tiger Mask, but much like Black Tiger, injured during an Italian tour in the middle of the tournament, Inoue was unable to complete what would have been a final reaching campaign, losing his last two matches via forfeit. 

That left Tiger Mask and Gedo as the two men through to elimination semi-finals. Gedo had beaten Tiger Mask in the group phase, so even though he beat Minoru Tanaka to get through to the finals earlier in the night, he came in on the back foot against the devious Gedo, representing the CTU faction in the final. In the end though, a Tiger Suplex led to a historic victory.

Relive the match here!

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