[1997-09-23-NJPW] Jushin Liger & El Samurai & Wild Pegasus vs Chris Jericho & Koji Kanemoto & Dr Wagner Jr

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Good match and one of the very few complete small show juniors matches we have for 1997. Sadly this doesn't have much heat and this match doesn't ever seem to kick into second gear, despite everyone working hard. Jericho also tries to do a few spots beyond his capabilities and nearly kills Benoit with the apron stun gun from powerbomb position spot he was doing around this time. Liger takes a special pleasure in beating up Dr. Wagner Jr. and finally finishes him off with a top rope brainbuster. Good, but not too special.

[Ditch]

Why is this on the set?

[Loss]

Why is this on the set?

Good match and one of the very few complete small show juniors matches we have for 1997.

[Kevin Ridge]

Loss, can you explain the small shows part? As this looked to be in Nippon Budakon though from lighting it seemed only bottom portion had fans. Seems excessive they would run that place that big for a small show. Jericho also over shot Benoit on a tope attempt later on. Thought it was pretty good too but we have seen better NJPW Junior tags earlier in year.

[soup23]

So this is why they keep playing Benoit with the concussion up on Nitro. Pretty cool to see all these big names in one spot and I liked the LIger and Dr. Wagner interactions. Jericho looked like we were close to absolute disaster with the spot with Benoit on the apron. I enjoyed this being on the set as it was a good match and we haven't gotten much junior action. This at least showed that Liger was still looking good in a year where he could conceivably be a top 10 worker in the world overall.

[PeteF3]

Fun little match that sort of stays "little," though I did get into the closing stretch and Liger absolutely annihilates Wagner for a suitable ending. The sort of weird mishmashed teams makes for a fun viewing experience but it's also not as smooth and breathtaking as the Michinoku Pro tags where everybody knows everything about how everybody else works.

[Zenjo]

Not a standout or feature match. Aside from one badly blown spot it did feature decent action however. Not much in the way of heat. The finishing move was bit scary. The superplex started off at the wrong angle and Wagner's head only just got tucked in in the nick of time.