The 1996 project :Clashes and champions!
In this part we’ve got a junior heavyweight title match from New Japan, a Joshi classic plus the fallout from the Royal Rumble and WCW’s go-home for one of the final Clash of The Champions plus the Clash itself!
El Samurai vs Shinjiro Otani (21.1.96)
This is for the UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight title held by El Samurai since December of 1995.
Otani showing why he’s quite known for his technical work going straight for the leg submission on Samurai as we begin, Samurai manages to ease the hold by attempting a choke/sleeper on Otani but Otani powers on turning the leg hook into a single leg Boston crab.
Samurai then starts to kick Otani’s face with the left foot in order to get the hold broken but that just makes him angrier and wrenches the leg hold on tighter until at last Samurai gets to the ropes.
Otani then decides to stomp on the neck and head of Samurai before applying the leg hook again but once more Samurai causes the rope break, Otani then thinks third time’s the charm but Samurai counters it into a DDT and then hits a Stunner however when he goes to pick Otani up he gets his leg swept from under him giving Otani another chance to attack the right leg with a few kicks then another hook into the single leg crab.
Samurai however grabs Otani’s right leg while in the hold and applies one of his own so Otani grabs the top of Samurai’s mask and then rolls to the ropes in order to get the hold broken, Samurai however as payback for earlier stands with the leg still hooked in and puts his boot on Otani’s face for a few seconds.
Samurai then hits a neckbreaker and then attempts a shoulderbreaker but is stopped by Otani grabbing his mask again and then gets kicked in the right arm for his trouble then hit with a spinning heel kick to knock him down. Otani then hits a snapmare but when attempting a double legged crab Samurai grabs his hair and hooks an armbar on the right arm.
Otani initiates a rope break but pays for it as Samurai stomps on the arm then gets hit with a jumping armbreaker into the armbar again, we then see that Otani’s nose has been busted open as Samurai hits a dropkick that knocks Otani down, Otani retreats to the outside but Samurai dives to the floor.
Back in the ring they go and Otani hits a dropkick and gets ready to dive but Samurai quickly moves out of the way before he can so Otani hits a running dropkick from the apron and drags Samurai back into the ring.
Otani then targets the right leg again but as he attempts to pick Samurai up he gets hit with a forearm that knocks him into the corner, Samurai then hits a piledriver and goes back to putting an armbar on Otani’s right arm but he counters by biting into Samurai’s calf in order to get him to break the hold!
Samurai then grabs the right arm again for another armbar and once more Otani manages to get to the ropes. Samurai decides after attacking the arm with another stomp to try something different – ram Otani’s head into the corner post.
He then whips Otani into the other corner but Otani flips over onto the apron and starts doing desperate headbutts to Samurai as he again goes for the arm, Otani then then does a spinning heel kick from the apron to the ring (which gets a big pop) and the FIRST PINFALL of the match only gets 2.
Otani whips Samurai into the ropes but his attempt at a back body drop is foiled and Samurai hits a powerbomb and then a flying headbutt off the top rope into a crossarmbreaker that Otani rolls over into the ropes.
Otani then hits a German Suplex with a bridge but Samurai gets out of the bridge and turns it into a double wristlock in a ridiculously beautiful counter and Otani has to fight to get the last gasp foot onto the bottom rope.
Otani’s in shock himself that me made it to the ropes and then hits a jumping heel kick followed by three dropkicks to the right leg ( 1 ground, 2 flying) and goes back to work but as soon as he can wrench it on Samurai’s left arm grabs the rope.
Otani then attempts a Dragon Suplex but Samurai then counters and is then rolled through by Otani into a legbar but again is foiled by the rope break. Samurai attempts to roll to the floor but is stopped by Otani who then hits his patented facewash on the apron!
As Otani plans to hit Samurai’s head on the corner post Samurai then hits desperation headbutts of his own followed by a lovely springboard dropkick to the back of Otani. Pinfall only gets 2 due to Otani grabbing the rope.
Ohtani again goes for the leg/knee (camera missed it – a rare L for NJPW there.) Otani hits a springboard dropkick of his own but takes too long to capitalise before he follows up with a Dragon Suplex for 2.
The frustration by Otani clearly shows as the realisation of not following up the dropkick quicker cost him his biggest chance yet in the match hits and as he attempts to superplex Samurai off the top rope he gets hit with a flurry of headbutts into a swinging DDT.
Samural then hits a armbreaker then a top rope kneedrop onto the right arm before hitting the crossarmbreaker and at long last Otani realises he has to tap.
(An excellent masterclass in limb work as both focused on the right side throughout, the trick was which one would realise that they needed to add brutality first – despite Otani doing so his hesitation to hit the final move costs him.)
Manami Toyota vs Yumiko Hotta (22.1.96 AJW Champion Legend]
This is for Toyota’s WWWA World title – which she won on 4th December 1995.
First off the amount of streamers in the ring is INSANE. A handshake attempt by Toyota turns into an Irish whip by Hotta but Manami quickly gets on the top rope to her dropick but Hotta kicks the left leg on the way down.
Hotta then follows up with a series of kicks to the leg and attempts one to the head that gets blocked, but a second attempt does not, this is followed up by a few to the back (quite stiff too!) and one final one to the face before she waits for Toyota to get up.
A test of strength follows with Hotta winning briefly before Manami kicks her right leg in a case of turnabout is fair play but Hotta strikes with some of her own knocking Toyota to the ground again. Kicks to the back of Toyota’s head follow before both attack each other with headbutts – Hotta coming off the winner.
More kicks to the back and head follow as Hotta then mounts Toyota in order to grab her hair and punch but Toyota turns it round and does headbutts to Hotta with a few slaps for good measure, Hotta then uses her leg strength to slowly raise Toyota off her and then kicks her face.
Hotta whips Manami into the ropes but Toyota hits a flying crossbody rebound and some kicks to Hotta’s face for good measure followed by some mounted punches and slaps. Hotta however rolls it over, uses her arms to lift Manami halfway off the mount then headbutts her down.
Hotta then attempts a pop-up powerbomb but is countered by a dropkick from Toyota who then hits a top rope one twice for a two count. A submission hold is attempted but then countered by the bleeding Hotta who hits herself on the bottom right corner post after noticing that she’s bloody then kicks Manami HARD in the face.
A series of kicks follow to Manami’s head, chest and right leg but she decides to hit HER head on the same corner post as Hotta just did as she’s begun to play a bit of a mind game with Hotta. A second test of strength follows with Hotta again being the victor via a kick to the face. A series of kicks again follow with one really catching Manami flush in the face. Manami wisely rolls to the floor.
Hotta then puts Toyota into a Barricade tree of woe and hits a running kick to the leg (which takes more out of Hotta than anything…) Toyota however once returning to the ring hits a big boot and kicks to Hotta while she’s caught in the ropes briefly but once she gets out she pretty much gives the look of ‘is that all you’ve got?’ and a stare down occurs which Toyota breaks with knees to the face, she then drags Hotta by the hair to a table at ringside and it’s pretty obvious the knees busted Hotta’s nose as she gets placed onto the table. Toyota then grabs the championship trophy and places it firmly on Hotta’s chest and face while standing on her – unique to say the least!
Once they return to the ring Hotta hits a spinning heel kick to Toyota in the corner twice for the 2 count, a Tiger Driver attempt by Hotta is countered by Manami but her attempt to do a Hurricanrana gets countered into a powerbomb then a HARD kick to the face. An Irish whip gets turned into a crossbody/ Sunset flip by Toyota for the 2, a bodyslam then leads to a moonsault but Hotta gets the knees up.
Two tiger drivers by Hotta only get a 2 count and an attempted superplex and big boot both get foiled, the latter sending Hotta to the fllor leading Manami to do her top rope dropkick to the floor. Manami then hits the moonsault in the ring this time but only gets a 2 count, a third attempt is thwarted by Hotta with headbutts to the back of the head and a super German suplex from the top!
Only 2 however…
Hotta’s anger leads her to confront the ref only for Manami to hit a German of her own but that only gets 2, she then hits a tiger suplex for 2 and an Ocean Cyclone attempt gets stopped with a kick to the face.
Hotta then kicks Toyota again and hits a Tigerbomb for the closest to 3 count we’ve seen yet, a superplex then gets countered into Manami’s Ocean Cyclone Suplex for TWO.
A second attempt gets stopped by Hotta but so does her powerbomb attempt leading to Hotta again hitting Manami in the face with the kicks. (It is to be noted however that both these attempt counters didn’t quite go off 100% so you do wonder if – despite every other stiff kick being part of the story – Hotta’s there was a bit more anger based at the match collapsing.)
Manami again gets out of the powerbomb attempt and a spinning heel kick by Hotta on a slowly getting up Toyota weirdly misses so a big boot gets hit for good measure. It’s at this point that it becomes clear that the match is coming off the rails a little bit.
Manami escapes a third powerbomb attempt and hits one of her own but the execution of it doesn’t quite come off as I think they intended to as Hotta almost lands on head SIDEWAYS but it gets the 3 count.
(A match that for 95% of it is hard-hitting Joshi at its finest but as soon as the counters started going awry the match quickly collapses with the debut of Manami’s new finisher looking a badly executed mess which is a shame.)
Now it’s time for the Raw/Nitro part of this edition!
Raw 22.1.96
Finally – an actual live Raw in the project! We get told of Bret Hart vs Golddust, HHH vs Razor and an interview with the winner of the Royal Rumble HBK.
So what worked on this show? The opening angle with Vader defeating Savio Vega then taking out Gorilla Monsoon was a way to show Vader off as a monster – sadly this wouldn’t last long but you’ll know why in the Summer of 1996. Nice touch of Razor and HBK coming out too as the top babyfaces to save Gorilla from any more of a beating.
HHH/Razor was fine – but Jerry the Lech talking to the model was a pointless deal during it - and seeing Razor’s rage come through because of the Kid screwing him out of another match was cool.
Wrasslin War Room finally dies the death it needed albeit a few weeks late but no doubt there’ll be more Ted Turner petty crap to come.
We get the main event of the February PPV sorted during an HBK interview – him vs Owen for the Wrestlemania title shot.
Bret vs Golddust was good – Golddust finally suffers his first loss thanks to Razor getting some payback. Bret then gives Diesel some harsh words leading up to their cage match.
Nitro 22.1.96
Konnan kicks things off as he declares himself as the Mexican Heavyweight Champion (which he wasn’t) and he’ll put the title on the line at Clash.
Flair Vs Savage begins with the WCW debut of Nancy Sullivan as part of Randy’s entourage and Hogan of course sticks his ego in by wishing Savage luck but demanding the first title shot should he win as part of it.
We then find out Miss Elizabeth will be at the Clash – her first appearance since late 1992 along with Kevin Greene of the Pittsburgh Steelers to watch Hogan and Savage’s back.
A good match – better than the last one we saw – with the usual Horsemen strategy backfiring – to get Savage the pin via the elbow drop and the win (although the bell goes off as Hogan attacks Arn making it look at first like a DQ!)
It also gives Nitro an advantage by doing this change on live TV rather than at Superbrawl.
TENSION then hits as Hogan celebrates a little too much for Randy’s liking… something Savage is a little too aware of given their Mega Powers past.
Savage then tells Hogan he’s going to have to EARN the title shot. Hogan agrees but wants Savage to watch his back against One Man Gang.
Match of the night goes to Luger/Sting vs Harlem Heat in a rematch from a recent Saturday Night and we get our second title change but not without Luger using the cheap tactic of the old silver dollar fist to get the win and the titles to which Sting is oblivious…
Hogan vs One Man Gang – usual shite leading to the win for Hogan. We get the tired Hulk/Savage beating up the heels and same promo from earlier done slightly differently. As always – the worst part of the show involves the Egomaniac.
Clash 32 23.1.96
Aside from the Brian Pillman incident during his match with Eddie Guerrero where Bobby Heenan flips out after Pillman tries to grab him – the show has only one notable deal (since they essentially gave the Elizabeth surprise away the night before) and that’s the return of the Road Warriors challenging Sting/Luger. The tag main event is the usual garbage from Hogan dragging Flair, Giant and Savage down with him.
And that right there is this edition of the 1996 project complete!