El Samurai pinned Takashi Iizuka with the Inverted Swinging DDT in 0:18:18.
Rating: ***

We started out with a strong Junior encounter between Iizuka Takashi and El Samurai. This long match did not have a lot of near falls but was big on action. Samurai finished with an inverted DDT followed up with his patented Inverted Swinging DDT.

Manabu Nakanishi, Shinya Hashimoto and Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Yuji Nagata, Tatsutoshi Goto and
Don Frye when Nakanishi pinned Nagata after a tiger suplex in 0:06:17.
Rating: 1/2*

A rather short six-man affair. The win coming out of nowhere. Nakanashi hit a nasty tiger suplex and Nagata was totally stunned. Nagata did not get up quickly after that one.

No-Countout-No-DQ-4-Man Battle Royal:
Michiyoshi Ohara won a 4-man Battle Royal:
___x Kido defeated A. Saito after the Kido Clutch in 0:14:00
___x Ohara defeated Kido after a crucifix in 0:14:39
___x Ohara defeated Hirata after a power bomb in 0:19:55
Rating: * 1/4

Ohara Michiyoshi won this special four-way battle royal-style match. After Kido beat Saito Akitoshi, Ohara and Hirata went after Kido, with Ohara getting the pin with a crucifix. Ohara and Hirata then went after each other and Ohara got the win with the powerbomb.

nWo Wolfpac Japan (Hiroyoshi Tenzan, nWo Sting and Satoshi Kojima) defeated Genichiro Tenryu, Kazuo Yamazaki and Kengo Kimura when Kojima pinned Yamazaki with the Rydeen Bomb in 0:12:30.
Rating: ** 1/4

The Wolfpac made relatively short work of Tenryu, Yamazaki and Kimura. Tenzan and Kojima showed some of the form that made them tag team champions and Sting entered a strong performance. Neither Tenryu nor Kimura could get into their stride and Yamazaki was isolated. He absorbed a lot of punishment but Kojima's Rydeen Bomb was just too much for him.

Black Tiger pinned Jyushin Lyger with the Black Tiger Bomb in 0:23:25.
Rating: *****

Black Tiger proved he was back in business with a win over Lyger in brilliant see-saw battle. Both men had near falls a plenty. Both could have got the win, but after twenty three and a half exhausting minutes, Tiger finally managed to get a win wih the Black Tiger Bomb.

To read the match in it's entirety, go here. I hope to put log files for all 4* + matches on the site.

Elimination Match:
Dr. Wagner Jr., Kendo Ka Shin and Great Sasuke beat Koji Kanemoto, Shinjiro Ohtani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa 3 falls to 2:
___x double pin (Ohtani and Ka Shin) in 0:10:51
___x Kanemoto beat Sasuke via the Tiger Suplex in 0:14:08
___x Wagner Jr. beat Kanemoto via the Wagner Driver in 0:18:02
___x Wagner Jr. beat Takaiwa via the Wagner Driver in 0:20:47
Survivors: Dr. Wagner Jr.
Rating: ** 1/4

This elimination match threw up some interesting results. Beforehand, Kanemoto announced his tag partner for his Junior tag team title shot would be Black Tiger, the man who earlier beat Lyger.

On to the match itself, Ohtani was running the match when he went for a German suplex on Ka Shin. Ka Shin shifted his weight slightly on the way over and all four shoulders were on the mat for the three. Kanemoto and Takaiwa then gave Great Sasuke a real pounding before Kanemoto got the pin with the Tiger Suplex. Now Sasuke and Lyger must face men who have recently gained pins over them with the titles on the line. However, Wagner managed to stand up to the next beating Takaiwa and Kanemoto gave out and managed to turn the tables on Kanemoto. He hit the Wagner Driver and got the pin to further strengthen his Junior title challenge. Almost five minutes later another Wagner Driver, this time on Takaiwa, settled the match.

nWo Wolfpac Japan (Keiji Muto and Masahiro Chono) defeated Kensuke Sasaki and Shiro Koshinaka when Muto pinned Sasaki after a top-rope Frankensteiner in 0:09:26.
Rating: ** 1/2
(nWo Wolfpac Japan (Keiji Muto and Masahiro Chono) won the IWGP Tag Team Titles.)

After goading them into a tag match and then into making it a tag title match, the Wolfpac added insult to injury by winning the titles. Muto and Chono outclassed Sasaki and Koshinaka and easily won with a Muto top-rope Frankensteiner. Muto now holds the Heavyweight and Tag Team Titles.

Click here to return to the card overview.

Mike Farrow, 02-05-1999