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Post by elliott on Mar 22, 2022 23:32:32 GMT -5
What in the fucking fuck. Muta decides to ruin some poor kid's life and traumatize him forever on the way to bloodying Hashimoto. I'm stupefied that people don't have a high opinion of this or seemingly any opinion. Not enough votes to rate on cagematch and only 3 posts on PWO. This is like my new favorite match.
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Post by elliott on Mar 23, 2022 18:36:15 GMT -5
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Post by nintendologic on Mar 24, 2022 5:31:20 GMT -5
I'll go ahead and second this. Not something I'd seriously consider for this project, but definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of Muta spectacles. Here's what I wrote a few years ago over at PWO:
"I watched this on a whim. As far as I know, this match doesn't have much of a reputation (good or bad), so I wasn't sure what to expect going in.
We begin with the obligatory Muta stall-o-rama. On the plus side, he makes a little kid in the front row cry. Things pick up when Hash loses his patience and chases Muta to the outside. In an impressive spot, Muta uses one of Hash's seconds as a springboard to hit a Shining Wizard. He then rams Hash into the post, busting him open. A bloodied Hash's selling once they get back in the ring is out of this world. It makes Muta's beatdown a million times more compelling than it would be otherwise. His punch-drunk comeback was also nicely done. They do lose me a bit in the closing stretch with all the Shining Wizard spam, although Hash hitting one of his own was pretty cool. Hash gets the pin with a brainbuster and wins the Triple Crown.
They probably should have trimmed off a few minutes, but I really enjoyed this overall. I wouldn't go so far as to call this a hidden gem, but it was a very pleasant surprise. For those who enjoyed the Muta/Tenryu match in WAR, this was in the same vein."
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Post by lemming on Apr 9, 2022 23:20:23 GMT -5
I'd never seen this or heard it pimped before. Structurally this is roughly what you might expect from a Muta match: lots of stalling early, brawling in and out the ring in the middle and lots of big moves and mist spraying down the stretch.
But Hash's bloodied selling is so compelling and the timing and explosiveness of his hope spots is so good that this really drew me in. Everything from when he's busted open felt special. I thought this was great.
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Post by elliott on Jun 16, 2023 15:03:14 GMT -5
Bumping this becuase it's the best Triple Crown Title match
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Post by mvz on Jun 16, 2023 15:22:06 GMT -5
Yes yes yes, this is amazing. A lock.
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Post by tetsujin on Dec 29, 2023 18:25:59 GMT -5
Glad to have a bloody Hashimoto performance. He would have been awesome against Satánico in 1984.
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Post by mrjmml on Feb 9, 2024 19:53:03 GMT -5
Great Muta vs Shinya Hashimoto (AJPW - 2/23/2003)
This one is a polar opposite of the last match, Hashimoto and Great Muta did a great job selling the stakes of the match from the very beginning in a way that’s both convincing and entertaining. It’s very similar to Great Muta’s match against Tenryu in WAR 1996, it’s a bit worse than that match but there was a point when I genuinely thought it was going to be that good or even better than that but I expected way more out of the finish. 2003 was a very high end year, it had some of the best matches of the century so far I’d go as far as saying that this year is the most underrated year in wrestling history second to 1986 probably and matches like this make the case for that. I usually find Muta annoying but Hashimoto got the best version of him like Tenryu did seven years before, this version of him is blood-starved, violent and focused. That’s all I want in wrestling if Muta worked every match with the same intensity he would be my favourite wrestler ever, his moveset is the same as always but what changed was the way how he directed his offense, there’s an urgency and a degree of violence we rarely saw during his long career. I think Hashimoto made it possible I struggle imagining a better opponent than him for a match of this nature, I have to thank the AJPW’s creative team in 2003 for making the right call. Hashimoto is awesome here as always, he comes off as an unstoppable beast Muta can’t escape from which is a role that fits him perfectly to his character. If you haven’t watched it yet I’d strongly recommend giving this a chance especially if you like Shinya Hashimoto as much as I do. I watched this match for the first time a few months ago and I love it even more on rewatch.
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