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Keiji Mutoh and Masahiro Chono vs. The Road Warriors
on July 22nd, 1990

Event: New Japan Pro Wrestling TV Taping
Location: Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Announced Attendance:  Unknown

The Road Warriors attack Mutoh and Chono to start the match, sending them both out of the ring to re-group. Animal stays in as the legal man along with Mutoh. Crowd is excited. Tie-up, side headlock by Mutoh but Animal picks him up and tosses him to the mat. Tie-up, Animal pushes Mutoh back into the corner but Mutoh slips out of his grasp. Tie-up, full nelson by Mutoh but Animal muscles out of it and elbows Mutoh to the mat. Back up, Animal pushes Mutoh into the ropes but Mutoh avoids the swinging blow. Animal pushes Mutoh into the ropes again, but again Mutoh ducks the punch and kicks Animal. Irish whip by Mutoh, reversed, and Animal delivers a powerslam. Military Press Slam by Animal and he unceremoniously dumps Mutoh out of the ring. Chono goes over to check on Mutoh, and Mutoh returns to the ring after a moment. Mutoh tags in Chono as Animal tags in Hawk. Hawk asks for a Test of Strength and Chono stupidly agrees, Hawk forces Chono down to the mat but Chono kicks him in the stomach. Hawk kicks him back and presses Chono several times over his head before flinging him to the mat. Jumping fist drop by Hawk, cover, but it gets a two count. Irish whip by Hawk, reversed, and Chono hits a drop toehold. STF by Chono but Animal immediately breaks it up. Hawk throws Chono out of the ring and goes out after him, throwing Chono into the guard rail. Knee to the stomach by Hawk and he slides Chono back into the ring. Irish whip by Hawk and he hits the jumping shoulderblock. Hawk picks up Chono and delivers a standing dropkick. Hawk tags in Animal, double Irish whip and they hit a double dropkick. Animal twists on Chono's ankle, Chono goes for an enzigieri but Animal ducks. Stomps by Animal, he picks up Chono and tags in Hawk. Punch to the ribs by Hawk, snapmare, and he applies a stretch hold. Hawk picks up Chono and hits a gutwrench suplex before tagging in Animal. Scoop slam by Animal and he goes for a running splash, but Chono gets his knees up and tags in Mutoh. Mutoh dropkicks Animal twice, Irish whip to the corner and he hits the Space Rolling Elbow. Cover, but Hawk breaks it up. Chono runs in but Hawk tosses him out of the ring, Animal picks up Mutoh in a bearhug type position and Hawk comes off the turnbuckle with a diving lariat to Mutoh. Cover by Animal but Chono breaks it up. Chono punches Hawk and dropkicks him out of the ring. Chono and Mutoh grab Animal and hit a double vertical suplex. Mutoh goes to the top turnbuckle and nails the moonsault, cover, but Hawk breaks it up with a steel chair shot to Mutoh. Your winner by DQ: Keiji Mutoh and Masahiro Chono

Post match: Some of the dojo wrestlers came into the ring and got manhandled by the Road Warriors, including one getting the Doomsday Device. Finally Mutoh and Chono return with chairs and after a brief showdown, the Road Warriors leave the ring.

Match Thoughts: First, I am not really sure why the Road Warriors were on this tour. They had already signed and started with the WWF at the time, all I can think is that they already were committed to this tour before signing with the WWF in June, kinda the "honoring prior engagements" theory since WWF didn't have a "deal" with New Japan at the time. So this is a pretty special match since the Road Warriors didn't have a lot of matches between their WCW and WWF runs in the early 90s. Anyway, partially due to that they were in a tight spot as Vince doesn't like his wrestlers losing, but there was no reason to have Mutoh and Chono lose to two wrestlers that weren't coming back anytime soon. It is a shame this match was so short, I absolutely love mid-80s to early-90s Road Warriors, they are one of my favorite tag teams ever. They do the power offense so well and they always seem unbeatable. Mutoh did his best to out-maneuver his bigger foes, and it was working which is why Hawk had to use the chair to get DQed. It was too short to really fall in love with and it had a lame (but understandable) ending for such a major match, but I still enjoyed the action while it lasted. Score: 6.5


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