In going through 1995, I’ve been going in chronological order with the pay-per-views. WCW gave me trouble with two things: first, should I include the Clash of the Champions shows. I decided not to but then we started to get WWE’s In Your House events which are pretty much the same as Clash of the Champions—minus the quality so far. The other was if we should go Into the Vault on WCW/NJPW Collision in Korea.
WCW/NJPW Collision in Korea: A Rarity
This event was taped in April 1995 and aired in August. It continued none of the storylines in WCW at the time. I mean, if it did, WCW would’ve probably aired it that spring. Actually, looking at the company we’re talking about, I’m 50-percent certain WCW would’ve aired it earlier.
Since WCW/NJPW Collision in Korea has no ties to any stories during the spring of 1995, I figured it would be safe to look at what was hot and was not match-wise from the show. The thing to realize about this show is that it’s something of a rarity. As of April, Collision in Korea wasn’t on NJPW World or the WWE Network. Luckily, there’s YouTube!
Oh yeah, the other thing of note is that this was the first time a U.S. promotion ran a show in North Korea. Also, the two-night event got the biggest attendance of any wrestling event with 165,000 for night one and 190,000 for night two. That’s claimed, Meltzer has it at 150,000 and 165,000—still massive for a promotion that wouldn’t be hot for another year.
Low-Tier
You’d think that WCW and New Japan linking up for a show in 1995 would generate a must watch show from start to finish. I’d like to excuse Yuji Nagata vs. The future Kendo Kashin since this is basically two young lions facing off. By this time, the two of them don’t even have three years of experience. However, I can’t excuse them. It wasn’t a trash match just one of those dry young lions matches that would’ve been skipped off the jump.
So, Tadao Yasuda at this point would be a rookie who just passed one year in the business. The first match he’s on—because the person in charge of editing two nights of action into one event figured Yasuda deserved two matches—isn’t bad either. Is it a throwaway match? Oh, most definitely.
Sure, Masahiro Chono and Hiro Saito are both here and they’re both great. Chono is charismatic, exciting, and a big match player while Saito has the experience and shines in a tag team. No problem over there. Across the ring, you have El Samurai who was a really good junior heavyweight in the 90s paired with Tadao Yasuda—who would go down as one of the worst IWGP Heavyweight champions of all time.
What about this match on its own? As I said, it’s not bad and it’s not trash but if it wasn’t featured you’d be missing nothing. It’s adequate. Now, if you want an out and out trash match, get a load of Road Warrior Hawk taking on Tadao Yasuda from later in the PPV. No reason for it to be there.
No one asked for Yasuda the first time but you’re getting him twice. Just because.
Mid-Tier
Benoit took on New Japan Dojo graduate, 2 Cold Scorpio in a short bout. It would’ve been incredible to see more of these two in this match. Prior to this, Scorpio managed to beat Benoit during the 1993 house shows for WCW in 1993. I mean, the Crippler drew against him for the most part but there was also his loss in the NWA World Title tournament in 1994.
Benoit’s success against Scorpio in Japan would shake out better in 1994 and 1995—including this show. Their match here was short but considering the show and where it was, I wasn’t expecting some crescent fresh action from them.
The IWGP Title match between champion Shinya Hashimoto and Scott Norton wasn’t a bad match but this wasn’t the setting for it to take place. Honestly, this exact same match with a decisive ending would’ve come out better in Japan. The ending—a time limit draw at 20 minutes—was lousy. It just happened and the match was done.
Our main event between Antonio Inoki and Ric Flair had moments where it was a solid match but you could see that these two just weren’t going to gel for the most part. Both Flair and Inoki have a particular kind of match that they wrestle regardless of the opponent. This might seem bland but it’s worked for both of them for decades up until 1995.
Then the two very similar approaches collide with each other. What we got was a 1/4 awkward, 3/4 solid bout for a serviceable match. Far from great, shy of good, far from bad, and really far from awful.
Exotic-Tier
I know that joshi wrestling enthusiasts might say that the women’s tag match wasn’t good or was alright at best. I’ll say in the context of this show and the pace of this show, Nakano & Hokuto vs. Toyota & Yoshida was very good. It’s not unusual for a decent match to be elevated when the rest of the card is just alright.
These four also gave the show that exciting, fast-paced match it needed. If only the match was between the Steiner tag and the main event! Speaking of the Steiner tag: The Steiner Brothers faced off against Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki.
The Steiners were still a hot team at this time. Hiroshi Hase was this wrestler who was pretty much the 90s version of Hirooki Goto: a ridiculously reliable, very talented but a bit past his potential main event champion period wrestler who would likely be super over if he went freelancer.
Oh, and Kensuke Sasaki is here as well. He’s a powerful wrestler in the vein of Riki Choshu only he had a lot extra to him besides throwing lariats, slapping on deathlocks, and wrestling much faster than his weight class. This guy had the look of an intimidating champion and would end up becoming one of the most dominant wrestlers of the 2000s by going freelance.
Anyway, the Steiners vs. Hase & Sasaki was really exciting and the best match on the show. That suplex from Rick towards the end looked dangerously sloppy but still, this and the women’s tag bout were the standouts.
WCW/NJPW Collision in Korea Verdict: 4/10
WCW/NJPW Collision in Korea isn’t as awesome as some would have you remember. That said, there was more good and acceptable that awful on the show. Personally, I feel that it was done to what made the PPV itself than the matches. WCW and New Japan had the show taped so both groups could’ve pieced together a better show than this.
Also, the camera work and production on this show left something to be desired. Hell, in the semi-final tag bout the camera missed Scott Steiner’s Screwdriver finisher. Not only that but for a show that took place in 1995, you’d think it took place in 1991 or 1992.
The production could’ve easily been excused if the PPV pulled from a better selection of bouts. I had a theory that the reason for WCW/NJPW Collision in Korea not being on the WWE Network was because the show was between bad and meh.
However, WWE has all these late 1994-early 1995 PPVs up, so I don’t why this show is missing.
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