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Keiji Mutoh vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
on January 4th, 2009

Event: New Japan Wrestle Kingdom III
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 40,000

This match is for Mutoh's IWGP Heavyweight Championship. They circle each other to start the match and start the feeling out process. They jockey for position on the mat with Mutoh getting the advantage, but Tanahashi quickly gets out of it and they return to their feet. Back on the mat, Tanahashi gets a side headlock applied and goes for the cross armbreaker, but Mutoh quickly gets out of it and applies a cross kneelock. Tanahashi gets out of it and goes back to the side headlock, Mutoh Irish whips out of it and the two collide with both going to the mat. Snapmare by Tanahashi and he applies a headscissors until Mutoh makes it to the ropes. Mutoh rolls out of the ring to re-gain himself, but he returns after a moment. Tanahashi grabs Mutoh's leg and delivers a dragon screw leg whip, and he then repeatedly kicks Mutoh in the knee. Mutoh tries to get away but Tanahashi grabs him and elbows him in the leg. Tanahashi applies a leg lock but Mutoh makes it to the ropes and forces a break. More kicks to the leg by Tanahashi and he yanks back on Mutoh's leg, pulling it in the wrong direction. Tanahashi applies the bow and arrow submission hold but Mutoh rolls into the ropes and Tanahashi releases the hold. Tanahashi picks up Mutoh and throws him into the corner before kicking him in the knee again. Back up, uppercuts by Tanahashi in the corner but Mutoh kicks him back and elbows him in the head. Snapmare by Mutoh and he nails the Flash Elbow. Both wrestlers slowly get up and Tanahashi kicks Mutoh in the leg. Tanahashi picks up Mutoh and puts his leg onto the ropes in the corner before dropkicking it. Tanahashi grabs Mutoh's leg and pulls him down so he can ram it into the ring post and ring apron. Tanahashi slides back in the ring, he picks up Mutoh and goes for a dragon screw leg whip, but Mutoh knees him in the head and delivers one of his own. Tanahashi rolls to the apron but Mutoh goes down to the floor and hits a dragon screw leg whip from the apron to the floor. Mutoh then dropkicks Tanahashi while he is still lying on the floor, he then picks up Tanahashi and gives him another dragon screw leg whip. With Tanahashi lying against the railing, Mutoh runs up and delivers a Shining Wizard. Mutoh then goes to the other side of the railing, grabs Tanahashi's leg so he is straddling the rail before hitting a dragon screw. Mutoh rolls back into the ring while Tanahashi is still on the other side of the railing, and he slowly starts crawling back to the ring.

He finally makes it back in at 14, but Mutoh promptly dropkicks him in the knee. Tanahashi slides out to the apron, but Mutoh dropkicks him in the knee again. Tanahashi stands up, but Mutoh grabs his leg and delivers a dragon screw leg whip with his leg on the second rope, pulling Tanahashi back into the ring. Dragon screw leg whip by Mutoh and he slaps on the figure four leg lock. After a minute or so Tanahashi makes it to the ropes, so Mutoh breaks the hold and dropkicks Tanahashi in the knee. He goes for another dragon screw but Tanahashi slaps him and the two trade blows. Mutoh dropkicks Tanahashi in the knee but Tanahashi fires right back with his own dropkick to the knee. They trade dropkicks again, Tanahashi goes for a kick but Mutoh catches his leg and hits a dragon screw leg whip. Dropkick to the knee by Mutoh while Tanahashi is lying on the mat, he waits for Tanahashi to get up and hits a dragon screw leg whip before applying the figure four leg lock again. Again Tanahashi makes it to the ropes and Mutoh has to break the hold, Mutoh goes up to the second turnbuckle and dropkicks Tanahashi in the leg. Mutoh grabs Tanahashi's leg but Tanahashi slaps him away. Waistlock by Tanahashi, Mutoh blocks the suplex so Tanahashi delivers a chop block. Tanahashi picks up Mutoh and delivers a series of elbows and kicks, scoop slam in front of the corner and he hits a rolling senton off the second turnbuckle. Cover, but Mutoh has a foot on the second rope. Tanahashi picks up Mutoh and hits an uppercut, Irish whip by Tanahashi to the corner, reversed, and Mutoh knocks Tanahashi out with a Shining Wizard. Mutoh grabs Tanahashi's leg and hits a dragon screw leg whip, he goes for his trio of Shining Wizards (front, back, and finishing one to the front) but Tanahashi blocks the third one and elbows Mutoh in the knee. Texas Cloverleaf attempt by Tanahashi, but Mutoh blocks it. Elbow drops by Tanahashi and he dropkicks Mutoh in the leg. Tanahashi goes off the ropes and hits the Sling Blade, cover, but Mutoh gets a shoulder up. Tanahashi goes for the dragon suplex, Mutoh blocks it, but Tanahashi connects with the trapped German suplex for a two count. Tanahashi goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits the High Fly Flow, but he hit his knee on the landing and can't cover.

Both wrestlers slowly get up, Mutoh hits a Shining Wizard but Tanahashi fires back with a Sling Blade. Both wrestlers slowly get up, dropkick to the knee by Mutoh but Tanahashi ducks the Shining Wizard and delivers another Sling Blade. Tanahashi goes back up to the top turnbuckle but Mutoh has recovered and he grabs Tanahashi, hitting a dragon screw leg whip from the top turnbuckle down to the mat. Shining Wizard by Mutoh, cover, but Tanahashi manages to kick out. Mutoh goes up to the top turnbuckle to try a dropkick, but his knees buckle, causing him to drop down into the ring. Mutoh dropkicks Tanahashi in the knee anyway and hits a dragon screw leg whip, and he re-applies the figure four. The referee grabs the referee as he asks him if he wants to give up, but he manages to get to the ropes as the crowd roars its approval. Mutoh grabs Tanahashi, he puts his legs onto the top rope and hits the dragon screw neck whip. Mutoh runs at Tanahashi to do a Shining Wizard but Tanahashi reverses it with a hurricanrana for a two count. Mutoh picks up Tanahashi and goes for the dragon screw neck whip again, but Tanahashi reverses positions with him and hits a dragon screw neck whip of his own. Tanahashi is fired up as he drags Mutoh to his feet, German suplex hold by Tanahashi but he can't hold the bridge due to his injured knee. Mutoh rolls to his feet but Tanahashi grabs him and hits the dragon suplex hold for a two count. Tanahashi goes off the ropes and hits the Sling Blade, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits the High Fly Flow. He quickly jumps to his feet and goes for a second one, but Mutoh rolls out of the way and hits a Shining Wizard. Mutoh quickly goes up to the top turnbuckle but he didn't take the time to position Tanahashi and Tanahashi easily rolls out of the way of the moonsault. Tanahashi goes up top and hits the High Fly Flow to Mutoh's back, and as Mutoh rolls over Tanahashi nails a final High Fly Flow for the three count! Your winner and new champion: Hiroshi Tanahashi

Match Thoughts: Epic. This match was everything that it should have been. Mutoh has used the same basic formula to win hundreds of matches, and it looks like it will work here as well as he completely destroys Tanahashi's knee in more ways then one could imagine. Tanahashi though doesn't stay down, and Mutoh makes the mistake that has cost him big matches in the past... going for the moonsault at the wrong time as a desperation move. Tanahashi quickly capitalized on Mutoh's mistake, and the ending stretch of the match was almost perfect as Tanahashi defeated his former mentor for the first time. They had a few mishaps, which always happens in a match that is over 30 minutes long, but for the vast majority of the time they were very focused on what they were doing and both knew how important this match was not only for the promotion but for Tanahashi.

I could write a paper about the things I liked in this match, but I'll give you a couple examples. I thought it was smart that Tanahashi went for Mutoh's leg, due to Mutoh's well known leg issues. I always appreciate it when wrestlers incorporate injuries into their normal spots, such as when Tanahashi was too hurt to cover after the first High Fly Flow and when he can't hold the bridge on the German suplex due to his knee. Mutoh's leg work generally sets up two things: the figure four and the Trio of Shining Wizards, and here he tried both of those, but Tanahashi got out of it both times. I know some people don't like it, but Mutoh hitting the same moves repeatedly (such as the dragon screw) makes too much sense in the story of the match for me not to appreciate it, if he is trying to weaken Tanahashi's leg what move would be better? Plus he hit at least five different variations of the move in the match as he fit it into any situation. The crowd being extremely into it helped, as I don't think 10 seconds passed when someone in the crowd didn't yell something and they popped for the parts they were expected to. Not the nuclear heat you can get in smaller locations, but they were definitely vocal. I loved it, as I've always enjoyed Mutoh's methodical style of putting his opponent away and Tanahashi provided plenty of flash and selling to help keep the crowd into it. Great way to start the new year for New Japan. Score: 9.0


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